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Abraham  Lincoln 

and  Constitutional 
Government 


By 

Bartow  A.  Ulrich 


PART  ONE 


Published  by  Chicago  Legal  News 


Sold    by    A.  C.    McClurg   &   Co. 


£f7 


COPYRIGHT     1916 

BY 

BARTOW  A.    ULRICH 


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T  DEDICATE  This  life 
of  Abraham   Lincoln 

and  treatise  on  constitu- 
tional government  to  the 
Press  Club  of  Chicago, 
which  bears  in  its  hand  the 
ever  brilliant  torch  of  intel- 
ligence, knowledge  and  lib- 
erty that  enlightens  the 
world  and  defends  the 
rights    of    the    people. 


493787 


Part  I 
Abraham  Lincoln 


Preface  vii 


PREFACE. 

There  have  been  so  many  books,  essays,  and  speeches  written 
about  the  immortal  Abraham  Lincoln,  that  one  might  well  ask 
why  I  should  attempt  at  this  late  day  the  difficult  task  of  adding 
one  more  to  the  thousands  already  in  existence.  In  answer  I  will 
say  that  whenever  I  return  to  the  sacred  precincts  and  final  rest- 
ing place  of  one  whom  I  knew  and  admired  in  my  early  years, 
whose  imperishable  fame  and  illustrious  services  never  will  be 
forgotten,  nor  whose  memory  will  ever  perish  from  the  his- 
tory of  the  world,  I  feel  impelled  to  add  one  more  laurel  wreath 
to  that  victorious  brow,  and  to  recount  a  few  more  cherished 
memories  of  that  useful,  unselfish,  and  patriotic  life;  and 
above  all  to  show  what  he  accomplished  to  advance  and  per- 
petuate constitutional  government  in  the  world. 

A  thousand  years  from  now,  and  longer,  Springfield  and  the 
tomb  of  Lincoln  will  be  the  Mecca  of  countless  lovers  of  liberty 
and  justice  from  all  over  the  world,  who  will  come  here  to  visit 
and  express  their  devotion  to  the  great  Mastermind  of  the  Nine- 
teenth Century,  who  saved  the  Union  during  its  most  perilous 
days,  and  liberated  four  million  slaves  from  a  degrading  bondage. 
This  republic  and  the  entire  world  owe  a  great  debt  of  gratitude 
for  the  kindly  manner  in  which,  at  an  early  date,  Springfield  re- 
ceived and  appreciated  the  latent  talent  of  the  young,  honest,  and 
homely  man  who  had  the  good  fortune  to  make  his  home  there. 
He  was  fortunate  in  meeting  such  friends  as  John  T.  Stuart, 
William  Butler,  Joshua  Speed,  Lyman  Trumbull,  O.  H.  Browning, 
Judge  David  Davis,  Edward  B.  Baker,  and  Leonard  Swett,  all 
of  whom  aided  him  greatly  in  getting  a  start  in  life. 

"Everbody  in  Springfield  knew  the  story  of  how  Lincoln  rode 
from  New  Salem  to  Springfield  on  a  borrowed  horse  with  a  pair 
of  old  saddle  bags,  two  or  three  law  books  and  a  few  pieces  of 
nondescript  clothing  and  about  $7  in  his  pocket.  Every  one  knew, 
too,  how  he  found  that  he  could  not  scrape  together  $17  for  bed- 
room furniture  and  how  his  friend  Speed  offered  him  half  his 
own  bed  in  a  room  over  the  latter's  store.  He  and  Speed  both 
took  their  meals  with  William  Butler,  who  was  afterwards  treas- 
urer of  Illinois." 

There  may  be  those  who  deem  it  a  great  privilege  to  visit  the 
tomb  of  Peter  the  Great,  founder  of  the  despotism  of  Russia, 
or  the  tomb  of  Frederick  the  Great,  founder  of  the  reigning 
family  of  Prussia,  or  the  tomb  of  Napoleon,  victor  in  many 


viii  Preface 

battles,  but  I  consider  Lincoln  superior  in  his  achievements  for 
the  universal  good  of  humanity  to  any  one  of  these  proud  and 
overpowering  masters  of  men,  and  would  therefore  rather  visit 
his  than  any  of  their  final  resting  places. 

However,  no  one  will  cherish  for  a  moment  the  idea  that  the 
immortal  Lincoln  rests  within  the  dust  under  his  tomb  at  Oak 
Ridge,  for  Lincoln  still  lives.  No  assassin's  knife  or  pistol  can 
harm  him  now.  He  lives  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  countless 
millions  throughout  the  nations  which  encircle  the  globe,  and  he 
will  continue  so  to  live  for  many  decades  to  come.  His 
deeds  live  to  overcome  tyranny  and  human  oppression  in  this 
and  other  lands,  and  to  fight  their  advancement  at  every  step. 
At  his  call,  contained  in  his  immortal  words  and  works,  today, 
if  needed,  a  great  army  of  men  will  arise,  as  in  the  days  of  the 
Civil  War,  to  put  down  the  enemies  of  freedom  and  progress. 
God  grant  that  the  day  may  not  be  near  when  this  call  will  be 
needed  in  the  land,  made  sacred  by  the  blood  of  heroes  of  the 
Revolution  and  of  the  Civil  War,  yet  it  may  be  nearer  than  we 
know. 

In  order  to  comprehend  the  lives  and  characters  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  George  Washington,  Oliver  Cromwell,  Martin  Luther, 
Peter  the  Great,  or  other  world  rulers  or  reformers,  one  must 
realize  and  admit  that  there  exists  outside  the  control  of  man, 
a  universal  mind,  acting  above  and  beyond  human  foresight,  but 
using  as  instruments  suitable  personages  to  accomplish  great  and 
far-reaching  results.  In  order  to  gain  a  certain  well-defined  ob- 
ject which  dominates  them,  the  lives  of  these  men  demonstrate, 
or  carry  out  to  its  legitimate  purpose,  a  principle,  thus  fulfilling 
the  designs  of  a  universal  governing  power  superior  to  themselves. 
Thus  governments  are  established  and  religions  propagated  for 
the  advancement,  up-building,  and  regeneration  of  the  world  of 
mankind. 

Houston  Stewart  Chamberlain,  in  his  work  entitled  "The 
Foundation  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,"  says :  "Nature  knows 
no  greater  power  than  that  of  one  great,  strong  man." 

When  a  great  ruler,  powerful  in  mind  and  body,  endowed 
with  extraordinary  ability  and  character,  is  born  into  this  world, 
it  does  not  necessarily '  follow  that  his  parents  should  be  the 
occupants  of  the  palace  of  an  emperor,  the  owners  of  the  luxuri- 
ous dwelling  of  a  multi-millionaire,  or  the  favorite  citizens  of  a 
populous  city,  for  some  of  the  world's  greatest  characters  have 
been  born  in  simple  dwellings,  of  parents  possessing  no  other 
qualifications  to  favor  them  than  honesty  and  respectability.  The 
parents  of  Abraham  Lincoln  were  residents  of  the  humble  log 
cabin,  now  prominent  in.  the  history  of  the  United  States  as  the 
birthplace  of  many  celebrated  people,  its  location  in  the  virgin 


Preface  ix 


forest  near  a  sparkling  river,  uncontaminated  by  the  overgrowth 
of  humanity.  Thus  young  Lincoln  was  chosen  from  the  west- 
ern wilds  of  America. 

"And  the  Lord  said  unto  Samuel,  *  *  *  Fill  thine  horn 
with  oil,  and  go,  I  will  send  thee  to  Jesse  the  Beth-le-hemite,  for 
I  have  provided  me  a  king  among  his  sons/'  (And  Jesse  sent 
and  brought  to  him  David,  the  shepherd  boy.)  "Now  he  was 
ruddy  and  withal  of  a  beautiful  countenance,  and  goodly  to 
look  to.    And  the  Lord  said,  Arise,  anoint  him:    for  this  is  he." 

When  the  boundless  prairies,  the  primeval  forests,  and  the 
rushing  rivers  of  the  unsubdued  West  and  South  had  done  their 
work  in  building  up  physically  this  future  president  and  emanci- 
pator, when  his  vigorous  and  clear  intellect  was  ready  to  fulfill 
its  purpose,  he  strode  bravely  into  the  camp  of  modern  enter- 
prise and  civilization,  and  in  a  short  time  became  its  leading 
spirit. 

Those  who  considered  themselves  qualified  to  hold  the  place 
of  superiority  above  the  masses,  and  regarded  themselves  as 
patricians,  on  account  of  their  birth  or  their  wealth,  found  in  the 
case  of  this  man  of  humble  origin,  that  he  was  their  superior, 
notwithstanding  his  lack  of  advantages  and  social  position  in 
early  life.  They  would  have  barred  him  out  of  their  clubs,  their 
exclusive  circles,  the  halls  of  congress  and  the  state  legislature, 
on  account  of  his  want  of  so-called  gentle  breeding,  but  the  peo- 
ple, the  voters,  for  whom  he  acted,  soon  placed  him  in  the  front 
ranks. 

The  aristocracy  of  nature  is  superior  to  the  aristocracy  of 
wealth  or  imperial  grandeur.  The  phrase,  "all  men  are  created 
equal",  which  is  inserted  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
has  been  and  is  a  source  of  annoyance  to  many  in  this  country 
who  would  be  aristocrats,  and  especially  to  those  residing  in  the 
slave  states  at  that  time.  The  wealthy  citizens  of  New  York, 
Baltimore,  Charleston,  Richmond,  and  Boston,  at  the  time  of 
Lincoln,  did  not  consider  him  their  social  equal  when  they  first 
met  him;  but  when  they  heard  his  eloquence,  became  acquaint- 
ed with  his  character,  and  knew  of  his  achievements,  they  re- 
alized that  he  was  a  man  of  great  ability  and  destined  to  fill  an 
important  place  in  his  country's  history.  Originally  starting 
with  great  natural  gifts,  in  their  development,  he  was  surpassed 
by  few  men  of  his  time. 

There  ever  seems  to  be  in  this  world  a  continual  controversy 
over  the  equality,  or  inequality,  of  mankind,  but  a  truly  noble  na- 
ture, reared  apart  from  the  corrupting  and  enervating  influences 
of  civilization,  is  often  found  superior  to  the  child  of  fortune, 
educated  amid  the  luxury  of  culture  and  refinement.  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  the  personification  of  the  ideal  of  personal  liberty, 


Preface 


and  the  equality  of  all  men  in  the  sphere  of  political  rights,  under 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States.  No  law  existed  then,  or 
exists  today,  to  prevent  the  election  of  the  people's  choice  to  any 
of  the  different  legislative  branches  of  government,  or  even  to 
the  presidential  chair. 

In  one  of  Lincoln's  addresses  to  one  of  the  regiments,  August 
22,  1864,  he  said,  "I  happen,  temporarily,  to  occupy  this  White 
House.  I  am  a  living  witness  that  any  one  of  your  children 
may  look  to  come  here,  as  my  father's  child  has.  It  is  in  order 
that  each  one  of  you  may  have,  through  this  free  government 
which  we  have  enjoyed,  an  open  field  and  a  fair  chance  for 
your  industry,  enterprise,  and  intelligence;  that  you  may  all 
have  equal  privileges  in  the  race  of  life,  with  all  its  desirable 
human  aspirations.  It  is  for  this  the  struggle  should  be  main- 
tained, that  we  may  not  lose  our  birthright — not  only  for  one, 
but  for  two  or  three  years.  The  nation  is  worth  fighting  for, 
to  secure  such  an  inestimable  jewel." 

BARTOW  A.  ULRICH. 

Chicago,  Illinois,  1916. 


Contents  xi 


CONTENTS. 

PARTI.    ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Preface vii 

Chapter  I. 

First  meeting  with  Abraham  Lincoln I 

Carl  Schurz  on  Lincoln's  personal  appearance 3 

Peter  Vredenburg's  reminiscences 4 

Fourth  of  July  in  Heidelberg 4 

Stephen  A.  Douglas 5 

Lincoln  on  Temperance : . . .  5 

The  Little  Still-house 6 

Lincoln  on  the  liquor  question 7 

The  petty  practitioners  of  a  petty  town 8 

The  Lincoln-Shields  "Duel" 9 

The  Springfield  bar 11 

Lincoln's  rise  from  obscurity 11 

Lincoln  and  Douglas 12 

Horace  White's  recollections 13 

Personal  appearance  of  Douglas 14 

Lincoln's  associates  at  Springfield 16 

Chapter  II. 

Organization  of  the  Republican  party. 19 

Founded  on  the  Declaration  of  Independence 19 

State  Fair  at  Springfield,  October,  1854 19 

The  name  "Republican" 20 

Illinois  editors  and  the  Nebraska  Bill 21 

Editors  at  Decatur  advised  by  Lincoln 22 

Lincoln  declines  to  be  a  candidate  for  office 23 

Pennsylvania  editors  meet  at  Pittsburg 23 

Anti-Nebraska  convention  at  Bloomington,  1856 24 

Call  for  a  national  convention 25 

First  Republican  county  convention 26 

Resolutions  of  the  Bloomington  convention 27 

The  "lost  speech" 28 

Delegates  at  the  Bloomington  convention 29 

The  Bloomington  ticket 31 

"Deacon"  Tyrell 32 


xii  Contents 


Republican  meeting  in  Rock  Island 32 

"Germans  mostly  anti-Christians  and  Republicans" 33 

The  national  election  of  1856 33 

Lincoln's  address  at  Chicago 34 

Anniversary  of  the  Republican  party 35 

Chapter  III. 

Chicago  National  Republican  Convention,  i860 37 

Lincoln  accepts  the  nomination 38 

Stephen  A.  Douglas 39 

Douglas  sustains  Lincoln 40 

Celebration  of  the  Douglas  Centennial  in  Chicago 42 

Chapter  IV. 

Secession  cabal  at  Washington 45 

Jefferson  Davis  and  secession 47 

Graft  in  the  national  government 51 

Lincoln's  characteristics 52 

Chapter  V. 

Events  of  the  war 55 

Fort  Sumter 59 

President  Lincoln's  proclamation  calling  for  troops 59 

The  cabinets  of  Lincoln  and  Davis  compared 61 

Chapter  VI. 

Colonel  Ellsworth  and  the  Marshall  House  tragedy 67 

Last  reunion  of  the  Ellsworth  Zouaves 74 

Poem  written  at  the  time  of  Ellsworth's  death 70 

Poem  written  at  the  commencement  of  the  civil  war 75 

Chapter  VII. 

Lincoln's  intuition  and  character 79 

Farewell  address  at  Springfield 82 

First  message  to  Congress,  July  4,  1861 82 

Need  of  preparation 83 

The  call  for  troops 84 

The  draft  riots 85 

Vallandigham's  arrest 86 

Chapter  VIII. 

General  McClellan  and  General  Grant 89 

Lincoln  praises  Grant 90 


Contents  xiii 


Meade  reproved 91 

The  kind  of  whiskey  Grant  drank  good  for  others 91 

Lincoln  again  praises  Grant 92 

Lincoln's  humanity 93 

Chapter  IX. 

The  Trent  affair 97 

The  Treaty  of  Ghent . . 98 

Lincoln's  desire  for  reconciliation 99 

Thanksgiving  proclamation,  1863 100 

The  Gettysburg  Address 100 

Proclamation  of  thanksgiving  for  Union  victories 101 

Lincoln's  faith  in  God 101 

National  fast  day,  1861 102 

Belief  in  prayer 103 

The  question  of  slavery 104 

Chapter  X. 

Influence  of  West  Point  on  democracy 109 

College  training  versus  the  Declaration  of  Independence no 

Chapter  XL 
Emancipation  of  the  Negro  in  the  United  States  and  other 

countries    117 

Ambition  of  Jefferson  Davis  and  other  Southern  leaders. . .  118 

Northern  leaders  stood  for  liberty  and  union 119 

The  nations  abolish  slavery 120 

Czar  Alexander  II.  and  the  emancipation  of  the  serfs 122 

Lincoln's  Emancipation  Proclamation 124 

Negro  Fellowship  League  celebrates 127 

Reminiscences  of  the  rebel  conspiracy  to  burn  Chicago 127 

Chapter  XII. 

Thesis  on  government  used  as  campaign  document  in  1864. .  129 

The  National  Republican  Convention  of  1864 129 

A  Lincoln  story — "More  light  and  less  noise" 130 

The  discontented  four  hundred 131 

Letter  to  Greeley 131 

Chapter  XIII. 
The  Presidential  Campaign  of  1864 — an  original  campaign 

document 133 

Speech  before  the  Athens  Union  League 139 

New  Year's  address,  1865 , 142 


xiv  Contents 


Chapter  XIV. 

Last  interview  with  Lincoln 145 

Counting  the  electoral  vote 146 

Lincoln's  response  to  the  committee  of  notification 147 

Chapter  XV. 

President  Lincoln  enters  Richmond 149 

Capture  of  Jefferson  Davis 150 

Assassination  of  President  Abraham  Lincoln 151 


PART  II.    CONSTITUTIONAL  GOVERNMENT. 

Preface  i 

Chapter  I. 

Comparison  of  different  forms  of  government 155 

Chapter  II. 

Representative  democracy 157 

Divine  right  of  kings 160 

Chapter  III. 

The  imperial  trust 163 

Waechter's  project  of  a  federation  of  the  states  of  Europe. . .  165 

The  Passing  of  Royalty 167 

Chapter  IV. 

(the  new  representative  democracy 169 

Chapter  V. 

Events  leading  to  the  birth  of  the  nation 175 

Adoption  of  the  Constitution 177 

Powers  of  the  government 178 

De  Tocqueville  on  the  American  Judiciary 180 

Constituent  and  law-making  power 181 

Chief  Justice  Marshall  on  the  judicial  power 182 

Lincoln  and  the  Dred  Scott  decision 186 

The  "grandfather  clause" 187 

Cabinet  officers  and  Congress 189 

Power  of  the  executive 192 


Contents  xv 


The  referendum 192 

The  Civil  Code  of  Switzerland 193 

Stability  of  our  Constitution 194 

Part  of  Washington's  Farewell  Address 195 

Chapter  VI. 

Criticism  on  Constitution 197 

State  and  National  Control 200 

Department  of  Agriculture 201 

Letter  of  H.  D.  Sackett  on  Forest  Taxation  in  the  U.  S 202 

Mormonism 199 

Conservation  applied  to  children 206 

Limitation  of  State  Constitution 211 

Chapter  VII. 

National  vs.  state  sovereignty 213 

Reconciliation   219 

Growth  of  the  South 218 

Chapter  VIII. 

Causes  which  led  to  the  rebellion 221 

Honorable  Robert  T.  Lincoln's  letter 223 

Abraham  Lincoln,  loyal  to  the  Constitution 223 

Writ  of  Habeas  Corpus,  suspended 225- 

Influence  of  our  Constitution 225- 

The  Holy  Alliance  and  the  Monroe  Doctrine 227 

Pan- Americanism  and  the  Monroe  Doctrine 229 

Origin  of  the  step 230 

Pan-American  growth 230 

Mr.  Hall  on  the  new  Monroe  Doctrine  argued  before  Politi- 
cal Science  Academy 232 

President  Wilson's  Latin- American  policy 232 

We  must  not  retrograde 233 

Chapter  IX. 

The  Thirteenth  Amendment 237 

The  Fourteenth  Amendment 238 

The  Fifteenth  Amendment 240 

The  Sixteenth  Amendment 241 

The  Seventeenth  Amendment 242 

The  Proposed  Referendum 244 

The  Proposed  Female  Suffrage 244 

The  Proposed  Federal  Control  of  Child  Labor 244 

Hobson's  proposed  amendment  for  nation-wide  prohibition . .  244 
Resolution  to  extend  suffrage  to  women 245 


xvi  Contents 


Chapter  X. 

Switzerland    247 

The  Swiss  federation 248 

Constitution  of  the  Swiss  federation 250 

The  Swiss  confederation 250 

The  Landegemeinde 256 

Chapter  XL 

Portugal 261 

Revolution  of  the  5th  of  October,  1910,  by  A.  C.  Courrage.  .  263 

Constitution  of  Portugal 263 

Chapter  XII. 

France,  a  republic . 283 

Constitution  of  France,  1791 284 

The  Brumaire  Decree,  1799 285 

Constitution  of  1799 286 

Senatus-Consultum,  1804  286 

Napoleon  compared  to  Washington 287 

Louis  Napoleon 294 

Imperial  policy  of  Louis  Napoleon 291 

Adolph  Theirs  on  Modern  France  History 295 

The  present  Constitution 299 

The  Civil  Code 307 

Arstide  Braind — formed  a  new  ministry,  1916 308 

President  Poincare  predicts  end  of  war 309 

Anniversary  of  Franco-Prussian  War 309 

See  new  France  rising  out  of  war 311 

Chapter  XIII. 

Constitution  of  Norway 315 

Introduction  by  Peter  B.  Olson 315 

Other  Constitutions. 

China 333 

Japan 336 

German  government 339 

Prussia   341 

Ottoman  Empire 370 

New  Zealand 386 

Iceland   ■ 395 

Belgium 397 


Abraham  Lincoln  1 


CHAPTER  I. 

MEETING  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  WHEN  I  WAS  SEVEN  YEARS  OLD  AT 
SPRINGFIELD,  1845.  LYMAN  TRUMBULL,  STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS, 
GEN.  SHIELDS,  O.  M.  BROWNING,  MISS  JULIA  JAYNE  AND  MRS. 
LINCOLN  AT  SOCIAL  GATHERINGS.  PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES 
OF  LINCOLN  AND  DOUGLAS.  SKETCHES  OF  SOME  OF  LINCOLN^ 
CONTEMPORARIES  IN  SPRINGFIELD.  LINCOLN-SHIELDS  DUEL. 
REFERENCES  TO  LINCOLN  AND  DOUGLAS  DEBATES  BY  HORACE 
WHITE,   1913. 

When  about  seven  years  old  I  remember  Abraham  Lincoln 
as  one  of  a  number  of  politicians  and  members  of  the  legislature 
in  Springfield  who  visited  our  home  in  Second  street.  This  must 
have  been  prior  to  his  term  in  the  House  of  Representatives  in 
Washington.  Among  our  guests  were  frequently  Stephen  A. 
Douglas,  Lyman  Trumbull,  James  Shields,  and  others  who 
later  became  famous.  Among  the  friends  of  my  sisters 
who  were  at  these  social  gatherings,  were  Mrs.  Lincoln,  formerly 
Miss  Todd,  Mrs.  Trumbull,  formerly  Miss  Julia  Jayne  and  Mrs. 
N.  W.  Edwards,  sister  of  Miss  Todd. 

Springfield  was  very  new  and  primitive  in  those  days. 
There  were  not  many  amusements,  except  the  simple  ones  we 
provided  for  ourselves.  The  social  gatherings  in  the  home 
gave  more  pleasure  than  all  the  artificially  stimulated  outside 
entertainment  does  nowadays.  I  remember  the  first  time  I  met 
Abraham  Lincoln.  It  was  just  such  an  old-fashioned  party 
to  which  he  had  been  invited  at  our  house.  I  was  a  little  lad 
and  had  been  sent  up  to  bed  before  the  party  began. 

But  one  of  the  guests  had  failed  to  come,  and  the  company 
wished  to  dance  the  quadrille.  My  sister  came  upstairs  and 
dragged  me  out  of  bed  to  complete  the  figure  of  the  quadrille. 
I  slipped  hurriedly  into  my  clothes  and  crept  downstairs,  half 
awake,  yawning,  and  not  in  the  best  of  tempers.  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  leaning  against  the  fireplace  in  the  sitting  room.  I  remember 
that  I  was  particularly  impressed  by  his  height.  He  towered 
above  everybody  else  in  the  room. 

He  had  a  very  charming  manner  and  was  really  the  life  of  the 
party  and  made  all  the  guests  laugh  with  his  inexhaustible  fund 
of  stories  and  anecdotes.  His  strong  face  lighted  up  radiantly 
and  he  had  one  of  the  most  agreeable  smiles  I  have  ever  seen. 
Of  course  I  can't  say  that  his  grace  of  manner  can  be  stretched 


•2:-.  Abraham  Lincoln 


to  include  the  way  he  went  through  the  stately  and  dignified 
steps  of  the  quadrille. 

Mr.  Whitney  in  his  book  entitled,  "On  the  Circuit  with  Lin- 
coln," speaks  of  Lincoln  as  having  often  engaged  in  social 
sports  before  he  came  to  Springfield.  He  took  part  in  the 
games  and  dances  at  weddings,  husking  bees,  etc.     He  says : 

"Mrs.  Lincoln  was  a  Miss  Todd,  born  in  1818,  being  nine  years 
Lincoln's  junior.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Robert  S.  Todd.  She 
came  of  an  old  Virginia  family  on  one  side,  and  had  direct 
connection  through  another  line  with  General  Andrew  Porter  of 
Pennsylvania,  a  well-known  soldier  of  the  Revolution.  Miss 
Todd  was  accomplished  in  music,  dancing,  the  languages,  and 
the  arts  and  refinements  of  life.  Her  acquaintance  with  Lincoln 
began  in  Springfield  and  in  a  short  time  ripened  into  friend- 
ship, affection  and  love  with  occasional  lapses  in  favor  of  Stephen 
A.  Douglas  and  other  swains  then  in  vogue  at  the  capital.  Miss 
Todd  was  acquainted  with  Lincoln  for  two  or  three  years  pre- 
vious to  their  marriage."  He  undoubtedly  took  part  with  her  in 
the  social  entertainments  of  the  select  circle  in  Springfield  where 
there  were  the  usual  quadrilles  and  dances  popular  at  that  time. 

That  which  impressed  itself  on  my  memory  more  than  anything 
else  was  the  towering  figure  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  standing  by  a  man- 
tlepiece  in  our  parlor,  with  his  elbow  resting  upon  it,  quietly 
overlooking  the  guests  of  the  evening.  He  was  rather  awkward 
in  society.  Few  realized  then  that  he  would  become  our  future 
president  and  the  great  character  in  history  into  which  he  devel- 
oped. He  possessed  a  large  fund  of  good  humor,  and  conse- 
quently always  was  a  welcome  visitor.  He  used  this  gift  later 
to  great  advantage  in  trying  times  after  he  became  president. 
When  overcome  with  anxiety,  humor  was  to  him  a  relief  and  he 
often  turned  the  prevailing  gloom  into  a  moment  of  enjoyment 
by  reciting  some  amusing  story  applicable  to  the  occasion. 

Mr.  John  Hay  and  Mr.  John  G.  Nicolay,  both  of  whom  I  knew 
intimately  in  Springfield,  state  in  their  history  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln: "He  was  (in  1849)  s^  tne  center  of  interest  of  every 
social  group  he  encountered,  whether  on  the  street  or  in  the 
parlor.  Serene  and  bouyant  of  temper,  cordial  and  winning  of 
language,  charitable  and  tolerant  of  opinion,  his  very  presence  dif- 
fused a  glow  of  confidence  and  kindness.  Wherever  he  went  he 
left  an  ever-widening  ripple  of  smiles,  jests  and  laughter.  His 
radiant  good  fellowship  was  beloved  by  political  opponents  and 
partisan  friends." 

I  often  saw  Mr.  Lincoln  with  one  of  his  sons  on  the  side-porch 
of  his  home  in  Eighth  street,  and  on  the  street  between  his  home 
and  law  office.  He  always  had  a  pleasant  word  or  a  joke  to  tell 
when  meeting  those  he  knew,  and  his  kind  but  rather  plain  face 


Abraham  Lincoln 


would  light  up  with  a  smile.  He  was  six  feet,  four  inches  tall, 
and  very  strong,  having  developed  to  a  great  degree  physically 
when  young  through  hard  work  on  the  farm  and  in  the  forest, 
as  well  as  by  his  several  ventures  with  flatboats  on  the  Mississippi 
river.  This  superior  prowess  and  vitality  often  was  not  fully 
realized  by  his  opponents  until  they  came  into  personal  contact 
with  him.  During  these  days  he  did  not  always  dress  in  the 
fashionable  style  of  lawyers  like  Douglas  and  Trumbull,  and 
often  wore  a  coat  which  was  rather  the  worse  for  wear. 

Had  Mr.  Lincoln  employed  a  good  barber  and  an  artistic 
tailor  his  large  strong  body,  like  that  of  George  Washington's  or 
Czar  Alexander  II.,  would  not  have  seemed  so  awkward  as  it 
looked  in  ready  made  clothes  which  did  not  fit. 

It  must  have  been  about  this  time  when  moving  unostenta- 
tiously among  his  neighbors  and  friends,  that  his  mind  was  oc- 
cupied with  the  great  issues  which  were  pending  and  which 
would  soon  bring  about  the  great  Civil  War  with  himself  as  the 
master  spirit.  It  is  stated  that  he  said  to  his  partner,  Mr.  Hern- 
don,  whom  I  also  knew :  "How  hard,  Oh,  how  hard  it  is  to  die 
and  leave  one's  country  no  better  than  if  one  had  never  lived 
in  it !  The  world  is  dead  to  hope,  dead  to  its  own  death  struggle, 
made  known  by  a  universal  cry !  What  is  to  be  done  ?  Is  any- 
thing to  be  done?  Who  could  do  anything?  And  how  is  it  to  be 
done  ?    Did  you  ever  think  of  these  things  ?" 

Abraham  Lincoln  proved  that  human  intelligence,  when  used  in 
alignment  with  a  higher  power  in  the  endeavor  to  do  right,  dom- 
inates men  and  nations.  He  proved  also,  like  Shakespeare, 
that  the  great  universities  of  his  age  had  no  monopoly  in  in- 
tellectual achievements.  His  intuitive  understanding  of  meta- 
physics revealed  to  him  the  living  divinity  in  his  own  breast. 

But  I  hardly  know  any  better  way  of  describing  his  personal 
appearance  than  by  quoting  from  Carl  Schurz : 

"  'There  he  stood,  overtopping  by  several  inches  all  those  sur- 
rounding him.  Although  measuring  something  over  six  feet  my- 
self, I  had,  when  standing  quite  near  him,  to  throw  my  head 
backward  in  order  to  look  into  his  eyes.  That  swarthy  face,  with 
its  strong  features,  its  deep  furrows  and  its  benignant,  melancholy 
eyes,  is  now  familiar  to  every  American.  It  may  be  said  that  the 
whole  civilized  world  knows  and  loves  it.  At  that  time  he  was 
clean  shaven  and  looked  even  more  haggard  and  careworn  than 
later,  when  his  face  was  framed  in  whiskers.  On  his  head  he 
wore  a  somewhat  battered  stovepipe  hat.  His  neck  emerged  long 
and  sinewy  from  a  white  collar  turned  down  over  a  thin  black 
tie.  His  lank,  ungainly  body  was  clad  in  a  musty  black  frock  coat 
with  sleeves  that  should  have  been  longer,  but  his  arms  were  so 
long  that  the  sleeves  of  a  store  coat  could  hardly  have  been  ex- 


Abraham  Lincoln 


pected  to  cover  them  all  the  way  down  to  the  wrist.  On  his  left 
arm  he  carried  a  gray  woolen  shawl,  which  evidently  served  him 
for  an  overcoat  in  chilly  weather.  His  left  hand  carried  a  cotton 
umbrella  of  the  bulging  kind,  and  also  a  black  satchel  that  bore 
the  marks  tif  long  and  hard  usage.'  " 

PERSONAL    REMINISCENSES    NEVER   BEFORE    PUBLISHED. 

When  twelve  years  old  said  my  old  friend,  Peter  Vredenburgh, 
of  Springfield,  Illinois,  I  was  present  at  the  trial  of  a  Mr. 
Ross.  After  the  prisoner  was  brought  in  Mr.  Lanterman  ap- 
peared, accompanied  by  Abraham  Lincoln.  He  seemed  to  be  thor- 
oughly impressed  with  the  seriousness  of  the  case.  He  took  off 
his  tall  hat,  removing  from  it  a  large  bandanna  handkerchief  and 
a  bundle  of  papers.  He  finally  addressed  the  court  in  a  serious 
manner,  while  the  feeling  and  sympathy  he  displayed  was  very 
effective.  The  way  he  addressed  Mr.  Lanterman,  the  father 
of  the  girl  Mr.  Ross  had  married  when  he  already  had  another 
wife,  and  the  questions  he  asked  him  brought  tears  to  my  eyes. 
He  said:  "Do  you  know  this  man  (pointing  to  Mr.  Ross)  the 
defendant?"  The  old  man  replied,  "I  know  him  to  my  sor- 
row." After  Mr.  Lanterman  was  through,  Mr.  Lincoln  had 
witnesses  to  prove  the  man's  name  was  Ross  Dawson  and  that 
he  had  another  wife  living.  Ross  was  convicted  of  bigamy  and 
sent  to  the  pentitentiary  for  the  maximum  time.  I  don't  think 
any  one  in  the  court  was  more  grieved  over  the  case  than  Mr. 
Lincoln  and  his  appearance  left  a  lasting  impression  on  my  mind. 


CELEBRATION  OP  FOURTH  OP  JULY  IN  PlElDELBERG. 

While  Abraham  Lincoln  was  seeking  knowledge  and  educating 
himself  under  many  disadvantages  in  his  rude  surroundings,  Jef- 
ferson Davis,  Robert  E.  Lee,  Beauregard  and  Buckner  were  being 
thoroughly  trained  at  the  expense  of  the  United  States  at  West 
Point,  and  many  of  the  sons  of  southern  chivalry,  in  the  sunny, 
luxurious  South,  were  being  educated  by  their  wealthy  parents 
to  lord  it  over  and  to  live  off  the  labor  of  their  inherited,  so- 
called  slave  property,  and  to  regard  themselves  as  the  exclusive 
aristocrats  of  the  nation.  They  were  taught  to  look  down  with 
contempt  upon  the  poor  non-slave  holders  of  their  own  states  and 
to  hate  the  anti-slavery  yankees  of  the  North.  I  myself  met  sev- 
eral of  these  buds  of  southern  chivalry  while  studying  at  the 
University  of  Heidelberg,  Germany.    In  1859  the  American  stu- 


Abraham  Lincoln 


dents  there  and  in  adjoining  cities  celebrated  the  Fourth  of  July. 
We  chartered  a  small  steamer,  put  the  United  States  flag  at  one 
end  and  the  flag  of  Baden  at  the  other,  and  steamed  up  the'  Necker 
to  a  beautiful  garden  and  resort  on  its  bank.  Toasts  and  speeches 
were  in  order.  Many  ladies  and  gentlemen,  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  were  invited  and  were  present.  The  late  Judge  Henry 
M.  Shepard,  then  a  student  of  Heidelberg,  and  Frederick  W. 
Matteson  son  of  former  Governor  Matteson  of  Illinois;  also  a 
student  at  Heidelberg,  joined  in  this  Fourth  of  July  celebration. 
The  German  newspapers  made  some  very  flattering  references 
to  the  occasion.  As  it  was  just  previous  to  the  Civil  War  there 
were  two  factions  in  Heidelberg,  one  representing  the  South  and 
one  the  North.  The  young  men  from  the  South  would  not  join 
us  in  our  patriotic  celebration,  but  had  a  dinner  by  themselves 
at  a  public  house  in  Heidelberg.  Being  on  friendly  terms  with 
several  of  them  and  before  starting  with  my  friends  from  the 
North,  I  took  a  friendly  glass  of  wine  with  them  at  the  hotel  and 
tried  to  persuade  them  to  join  us ;  but  they  declined  the  invita- 
tion, thus  showing  the  animus  of  the  southern  mind  and  its  preju- 
dice against  the  North. 


STEPHEN    A.   DOUGLAS — LINCOLN    AND   TEMPERANCE. 

I  heard  Judge  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  with  whom  Lincoln  was 
debating  the  great  issues  of  the  day,  speak  in  Springfield.  He 
was  a  short,  thickset  man,  with  a  large  head  covered  with  an 
abundance  of  black  hair  which  shook  like  the  mane  of  a  lion  when 
he  was  delivering  his  eloquent  address.  He  was  a  powerful 
speaker  and  a  well  educated  man  of  great  natural  ability. 

In  regard  to  Douglas,  I  remember  that  he  smoked  a  great  deal 
and  after  speaking  in  public  as  soon  as  a  favorable  opportunity 
presented  itself,  he  would  visit  a  certain  grocery  store  across  the 
street  from  the  state  house  and  take  a  drink  of  Bourbon  whiskey. 
It  was  customary  in  those  days  to  sell  whiskey  in  family  grocer- 
ies. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  entirely  free  from  these  habits,  as  there  is  an 
abundance  of  proof.  February  22,  1842,  Mr.  Lincoln  delivered 
an  address  before  the  Washingtonian  Temperance  Society,  Spring- 
field, 111.,  which  is  contained  in  a  book  giving  the  speeches  and 
letters,  1832-1865,  published  by  J.  M.  Dent  &  Co.,  New  York, 
in  Everybody's  Library,  edited  by  Ernest  Rhys. 

He  commenced,  "Although  the  temperance  cause  has  been  in 
progress  for  twenty  years  it  is  apparent  to  all  that  it  is  just  now 
being  crowned  with  a  degree  of  success  hitherto  unparalleled." 


Abraham  Lincoln 


This  is  a  long  address  and  shows  Mr.  Lincoln's  views  at  that  time 
on  this  vital  question. 


THE    UTTLE    STIIX-HOUSE. 


A  Sun  correspondent  asked  if  it  was  true  as  stated  in  F.  F. 
Browne's  "The  Everyday  Life  of  Lincoln"  that  in  the  canvass  for 
senator  in  1858  Douglas  accused  Lincoln  of  "keeping  a  groggery." 
The  mythology  of  Lincoln,  aside  from  the  false  quotations  which 
are  always  turning  up,  seems  inexhaustible,  and  the  "groggery"  is 
an  old  figure  in  it.  The  Pittsfield  Eagle  has  looked  up  the  Lin- 
coln-Douglas debates  again,  and  finds  Douglas  at  Ottawa  Aug. 
21,  1858,  protesting  that  he  meant  no  unkindness  to  his  opponent, 
whom  he  had  known  for  almost  twenty-five  years  : 

"There  were  many  points  of  sympathy  between  us  when  we 
first  got  acquainted.  We  were  both  comparatively  boys  and  both 
struggling  with  poverty  in  a  strange  land.  I  was  a  school  teacher 
in  the  town  of  Winchester  and  he  was  a  flourishing  grocery 
keeper  in  the  town  of  Salem." 

Of  course  if  he  kept  a  grocery  in  the  days  of  his  young  man- 
hood, he  sold  rum.  Wet  goods  were  an  invaluable  source  of  at- 
traction of  custom  in  the  "store."  Deacons  vended  "W.  I."  or 
whiskey  or  gin.  A  grocer,  a  grog-seller;  but  Lincoln  speaking 
whimsically  in  the  third  person  in  this  same  Ottawa  debate,  de- 
nied that  he  had  ever  kept  a  grocery: 

"The  judge  is  woefully  at  fault  about  his  early  friend  Lincoln 
being  a  'grocery  keeper.'  I  don't  know  as  it  would  be  a  great 
sin  if  I  had  been,  but  he  is  mistaken.  Lincoln  never  kept  a  gro- 
cery anywhere  in  the  world.  It  is  true  that  Lincoln  did  work  the 
latter  part  of  one  winter  in  a  little  still-house  up  at  the  end  of  the 
hollow." 

From  this  little  still-house  at  the  end  of  the  hollow  grew  Doug- 
las's "grocery,"  which  was  transformed  into  a  "groggery."  It  is 
possible  enough  that  Lincoln's  "saloon  license"  exists  in  facsimile 
as  an  ornament  of  saloons.  The  House  that  Jack  Built  is  the  pro- 
gressive order  of  the  architecture  of  myth.  Our  Massachusetts 
contemporary  quotes,  without  naming,  a  precaution  we  regret, 
a  mythical  anecdote  begotten  of  the  grocery-groggery  myth: 

"In  one  of  the  famous  debates  Douglas  accused  Lincoln  of 
having  sold  liquor  over  the  bar.  Lincoln  retorted  by  saying,  'Mr. 
Douglas  is  quite  right.  I  did  sell  liquor  over  a  bar.  But  while 
I  was  on  the  inside  selling  it,  Mr.  Douglas  was  on  the  outside 
drinking  it/  " 


Abraham  Lincoln 


So  the  Lincoln  legend-making,  or  folk-history,  goes  on.  Pos- 
sibly some  wag  will  yet  build  the  little  still-house  up  at  the  end 
of  the  hollow,  discover  it,  and  get  an  association  to  buy  it.  The 
renewed  interest  in  Lincoln's  "liquor  license"  may  indicate  that 
he  is  to  figure  as  a  witness  against  the  drys. — [New  York  Sun.] 


uncoln  on  the;  liquor  question. 

Hon.  James  S.  Ewing,  former  minister  to  Belgium,  said  in  his 
address  on  Lincoln  in  Bloomington,  1899,  "I  heard  Mr.  Lincoln 
define  his  position  on  the  liquor  question.  This  is  authentic  as 
it  came  from  Mr.  Lincoln  himself.  I  am  referring  to  a  demo- 
cratic meeting:  the  committee  had  placed  on  the  sideboard  in 
Judge  Douglas's  room  (probably  without  his  knowledge)  a 
pitcher  of  water,  some  glasses,  and  a  decanter  of  red  liquor.  As 
visitors  called,  they  were  invited  to  partake.  Most  of  them  de- 
clined. When  Mr.  Lincoln  arose  to  go,  Mr.  Douglas  said:  'Mr. 
Lincoln,  won't  you  take  something?'  Mr.  Lincoln  said,  'No,  I 
thank  you.'  Mr.  Douglas  said,  'What!  Are  you  a  member  of 
a  temperance  society?'  'No !'  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  'I  am  not  a  mem- 
ber of  any  temperance  society,  but  I  am  temperate  in  this,  that 
I  do  not  drink  anything.' " 

I  remember  in  Springfield  that  it  was  customary  on  New  Year's 
day  for  the  gentlemen  to  call  on  the  ladies.  Many  of  the  ladies 
had  wine  which  they  gave  to  their  callers,  and  the  result  was  that 
before  night,  many  of  the  gentlemen  showed  the  effect  of  taking 
too  many  drinks.  It  was  commonly  known  among  the  ladies  who 
the  gentlemen  were  who  refused  wine,  also  those  who  refused  to 
serve  wine,  among  the  latter  being  my  mother  who  always  refused 
to  serve  wine  to  callers.  It  was  my  impression  that  Lincoln  was 
among  those  who  did  not  participate. 

Lincoln  was  a  man  of  the  people,  all  his  sympathies  and  activ- 
ities being  exerted  towards  advocating  what  he  thought  was 
right,  and  to  their  best  interests.  Douglas  was  more  of  an  aristo- 
crat and  favored  at  first  the  lordly  slave  holders  of  the  South. 
Lincoln  was  a  born  statesman  and  leader,  but  he  possessed  as 
well,  a  pure  and  grand  character  which  overtowered  every  other 
motive  in  life.  It  is  this  character  that  lives  and  attracts  the  ad- 
miration of  the  world.  He  would  have  been  a  blessing  to  any  age 
or  nation. 

Lincoln,  like  Oliver  Cromwell,  was  a  born  leader  of  men,  and 
originator  of  strategic  movements  in  emergencies.  He  had  an 
indomitable  will,  and  was  determined  to  carry  out  his  purposes 
over  any  and  all  difficulties. 


Abraham  Lincoln 


THE  PETTY  PRACTITIONERS  OP  A  PETTY  TOWN. 

The  Hon.  James  Bryce  was  mistaken  when  he  stated  in  his 
introduction  to  the  speeches  of  Lincoln  that  "even  after  Lincoln 
had  gained  some  legal  practice  there  was  for  many  years  no  one 
for  him  to  mix  with  except  the  petty  practitioners  of  a  petty  town, 
men  nearly  all  of  whom  knew  little  more  than  he  did  himself." 
When  an  Englishman,  unfamiliar  with  the  conditions  that  existed 
in  Illinois  and  especially  in  Springfield  at  the  time  of  Lincoln, 
would  make  such  a  statement  it  proves  that  he  knew  nothing  of 
the  array  of  talent  and  of  the  university  trained  minds  that  gave 
dignity  and  legal  standing  to  the  courts  and  bar  of  Sangamon 
County  at  the  time  of  Lincoln. 

Otherwise,  the  introduction  by  the  eminent  diplomat  and 
author,  whose  "American  Commonwealth"  I  have  read  and  stud- 
ied with  benefit,  is  very  interesting  and  truthful. 

Mr.  Whitney  in  his  book  on  "Life  on  the  Circuit  with  Lincoln" 
says :  "that  in  the  lower  house  of  the  Illinois  Legislature  there 
were  many  men  of  both  political  parties  who  afterward  became 
distinguished  in  the  political  history  of  the  state.  Among  them 
may  be  mentioned  Lyman  Trumbull,  John  J.  Hardin,  William  H. 
Bissell,  afterward  Governor  of  Illinois,  Edward  D.  Baker,  John 
T.  Stewart,  William  H.  Richardson,  Lewis  W.  Ross,  Robert 
Smith,  Samuel  D.  Marshall,  James  Semple  and  James  Shields.  In 
fact,  the  Springfield  bar  of  those  days  numbered  among  its  mem- 
bers many  men  of  more  than  common  ability.  Some  of  the  names 
were  soon  familiar  to  the  whole  country.  It  was  not  because  his 
competitors  were  few  and  weak  that  Lincoln  attained  the  first 
rank  as  a  lawyer,  but  because  he  had  to  fight  his  way  against  men 
in  every  way  capable  of  testing  his  powers  to  the  utmost,  and 
men  who  had  far  superior  advantages  in  education  than  he  had 
received." 

Many  of  these  men  subsequently  became  members  of  Congress. 

The  Hon.  Schuyler  Colfax  states  in  his  reminiscences  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  Chapter  X,  in  the  book  published  by  Allen  Thorn- 
dyke  Rice,  that  he  (Lincoln)  "in  the  frequent  law  contests  at  the 
bar  waged  with  men  who  afterwards  attained  brilliant  distinction 
in  law  and  politics  and  in  eloquence,  in  the  sharp  antagonism  of 
debate  with  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  adroit  of  American  stump 
speakers,  Judge  Douglas,  he  was  intellectually  armed  and  equipped 
for  the  responsibilities  by  which  he  was  to  be  environed  in  the 
dark  and  perilous  times  of  the  Civil  War." 

Leonard  Swett  states  in  the  same  book  published  by  Allen 
Thorndyke  Rice,  that  for  eleven  years  Lincoln  and  himself  trav- 
eled the  eighth  judicial  circuit  in  Illinois  and  tried  suits  together 
or  opposed  to  each  other.    Leonard  Swett  was  a  highly  educated 


Abraham  Lincoln 


man  who  attended  North  Yarmouth  Academy  and  Waterville 
College,  Maine.  He  read  law  with  Messrs.  Howard  and  Shepley 
at  Portland,  Maine,  was  volunteer  soldier  in  the  Mexican  War 
and  at  its  close  settled  in  Bloomington  in  1848.  The  bar  of  that 
circuit  embraced  many  men  of  marked  ability,  including  David 
Davis,  judge  of  the  Superior  Court  and  senator  of  the  United 
States,  Edward  D.  Baker,  member  of  congress  from  Sangamon 
district;  David  W.  Voorhees,  Stephen  T.  Logan,  John  T.  Stuart, 
and  U.  F.  Linder,  with  all  of  whom  Abraham  Lincoln  came  into 
contact  during  his  practice  of  law. 

John  T.  Stuart,  who  was  at  one  time  the  law  partner  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  was  born  November  10,  1807.  He  was  of  Scotch 
Irish  descent,  and  his  father  was  a  Presbyterian  minister.  He  was 
graduated  from  Centre  College,  Kentucky,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1826.  He  maintained  a  high  place  in  his  profession 
which  he  held  actively  for  sixty  years.  He  was  elected  to  the 
legislature  in  1832  and  1836;  elected  to  congress  against  Stephen 
A.  Douglas  in  1838,  and  held  office  two  terms ;  he  was  then  elected 
state  senator,  1848  to  1852,  and  again  elected  to  congress  in  1862. 
Mr.  Stuart  first  met  Lincoln  during  the  Black  Hawk  War.  He 
subsequently  induced  him  to  study  law,  lent  him  the  necessary 
books,  and  afterwards  took  him  into  partnership  in  his  law  firm, 
which  lasted  until  April,  1841. 


THE   UNCOLN-SHIELDS    "dUEi/' 

James  Shields,  while  auditor  in  Springfield  in  1837,  challenged 
Abraham  Lincoln  to  fight  a  duel,  which,  at  the  time,  created  a 
great  deal  of  excitement  in  Springfield.  He  objected  to  some 
articles  he  claimed  Lincoln  had  written  reflecting  upon  his  charac- 
ter. He  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  social  circle  in  Spring- 
field and  quite  a  beau  among  the  ladies.  A  full  account  of  this 
duel  can  be  found  in  the  interesting  book  "Life  on  the  Circuit 
with  Lincoln"  by  Henry  C.  Whitney,  who  gives  a  very  vivid  pic- 
ture of  the  circle  of  acquaintances  in  which  Lincoln  moved  as  a 
prominent  character. 

When  James  Shields,  afterward  a  senator  from  three  states 
and  a  general  in  two  wars,  when  a  young  man  in  Springfield,  de- 
manded the  author  of  a  clever  pasquinade  written  by  two  ladies 
who  afterwards  severally  became  Mrs.  Lincoln  and  Mrs.  Trum- 
bull, Lincoln  promptly  caused  himself  to  be  announced  as  the 
responsible  party,  and  when  the  duel  was  forced  upon  him,  he 
rehabilitated  the  injured  honor  of  the  gallant  suitor  by  unhes- 
itatingly accepting. 

Lincoln  carefully  and  methodically  put  himself  in  training  and 


10  Abraham  Lincoln 


wrote  out  the  following  "instructions"  for  the  guidance  of  his 
second,  Dr.  Merriman: 

1.  Weapon:  Cavalry  broad  sword  of  the  larger  size,  precisely 
equal  in  all  respects,  and  such  as  are  now  used  by  the  Cavalry 
Company  of  Jacksonville. 

2.  Position:  A  plank  ten  feet  long  and  from  nine  to  twelve 
inches  broad,  to  be  firmly  fixed  on  edge  on  the  ground  as  the  line 
between  us,  which  neither  is  to  pass  his  foot  over  upon  forfeit 
of  his  life.  Next  a  line  drawn  on  the  ground  on  either  side  of 
said  plank  and  parallel,  each  at  the  distance  of  the  whole  length 
of  the  sword,  and  three  feet  additional  from  the  plank;  and  the 
passing  of  his  own  line  by  either  party  during  the  fight  shall  be 
deemed  a  surrender  of  the  contest. 

3.  Time:  On  Thursday  evening  at  five  o'clock,  if  you  can 
get  it  so;  but  in  no  case  to  be  at  a  greater  distance  than  Friday 
evening  at  five  o'clock. 

4.  Place:  Within  three  miles  of  AltCit,  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  river,  the  particular  spot  to  be  agreed  upon  by  you. 

5.  Any  preliminary  detail  coming  within  the  above  rules  you 
are  at  liberty  to  make  at  your  discretion. 

Lincoln  said  to  Linder,  "I  didn't  want  to  kill  Shields  and  felt 
sure  I  should  disarm  him,  having  had  about  a  month  to  learn  the 
broad  sword  exercise:  furthermore,  I  didn't  want  the  damned 
fellow  to  kill  me,  which  I  rather  think  he  would  have  done  if  we 
had  selected  pistols." 

James  Shields  was  born  in  1810  in  Tyrone  County,  Ireland, 
emigrated  to  America  in  1826,  practiced  law  in  Kaskaskia,  Illi- 
nois, 1832,  elected  to  the  Legislature  in  1836,  state  auditor  1837, 
judge  of  Superior  Court,  1843,  Brigadier-General  United  States 
Army  1846,  served  under  General  Zachary  Taylor  and  General 
Winfield  Scott;  was  United  States  senator  from  the  state  of 
Minnesota  1858- 1860,  governor  of  Oregon  Territory  1848.  In 
the  Civil  War  Brigadier-General  1862,  head  of  division-General 
Nathaniel  B.  Banks,  Army  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley;  resigned 
March,  1863  and  settled  in  Carrolton,  Missouri.  Member  of  leg- 
islature 1 874- 1 879. 

The  statue  of  Gen.  James  Shields,  first  United  States  senator 
from  Minnesota,  which  has  been  placed  in  a  niche  in  the  rotunda 
of  the  state  capitol,  was  unveiled  in  the  presence  of  nearly  400 
persons,  says  the  Journal,  including  members  of  the  Loyal  Legion 
and  the  G.  A.  R.,  who  supplied  the  fund  for  the  statue,  state 
officials  and  friends  of  the  Shields  family. 

Lieut.  Samuel  Appleton,  state  commander  of  the  Loyal  Legion, 
formally  presented  the  statue  to  Gov.  A.  O.  Eberhart,  represent- 
ing the  state,  and  the  Governor  responded.     Misses  Ellen  and 


Abraham  Lincoln  11 


Florence  Shields  of  St.  Paul,  grandnieces  of  General  Shields,  un- 
veiled the  bronze  effigy  of  the  soldier  and  statesman. 

A  close  study  of  the  speeches  of  Abraham  Lincoln  during  his 
contests  with  Stephen  A.  Douglas  will  show  what  a  thorough 
knowledge  he  possessed  of  the  great  questions  which  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  people  of  his  time.  They  show  the  immense 
amount  of  material  he  had  collected  from  every  available  source 
bearing  upon  the  questions  at  issue. 


TH^   SPRINGFIELD  BAR. 

Mr.  William  O.  Stoddard,  one  of  Lincoln's  historians  says: 
"The  Springfield  bar  in  those  days  numbered  among  its  members 
many  men  of  more  than  common  ability.  There  were  some  in- 
deed whose  names  were  soon  to  be  familiar  to  the  whole  country. 
It  was  not  therefore  because  his  competitors  were  few  and  weak 
that  Lincoln  advanced  to  the  foremost  position  as  a  sound  and 
able  lawyer.  From  the  outset  he  was  compelled  to  fight  his  way 
against  men  in  every  way  capable  of  testing  his  powers  to  the 
utmost,  and  there  was  none  of  them  whose  apparent  educa- 
tional advantages  had  not  been  greater  than  his  own."  Although 
Lincoln  did  not  have  the  advantages  of  many  of  those  with  whom 
he  came  in  contact,  he  quickly  grasped  and  obtained  knowledge 
from  every  available  source,  not  only  from  books,  but  from  asso- 
ciation with  men  of  superior  talent  and  education,  especially 
when  in  Springfield  and  while  traveling  the  eighth  judicial  cir- 
cuit of  Illinois  who  became  prominent  in  later  years. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  not  only  a  remarkable  character,  but  he 
was  the  result  of  the  immediate  incidents  of  the  times  surround- 
ing him.  He  was  carried  forward  on  the  crest  of  a  great  wave 
of  popular  revolution  and  was  its  controlling  spirit. 

Lincoln's  rise  from  obscurity. 

From  the  time  he  delivered  his  now  world-famous  speeches  in 
opposition  to  Judge  Douglass,  who  was  aiming  for  the  presidency 
and  who  favored  the  extension  of  slavery  into  the  Territories, 
1854  until  the  surrender  of  Richmond  in  1865,  eleven  years,  a 
startling  change  in  the  history  of  the  United  States  was  brought 
about  by  him,  in  co-operation  with  the  loyal  people  of  the  country. 
The  democratic  party,  at  first  all-powerful  on  both  sides  of  Mason 
and  Dixon's  line,  was  swept  out  of  power, — slavery  so  strongly 
intrenched  in  the  South  and  boldly  threatening  to  encroach  upon 
the  North  was  absolutely  obliterated,  the  defiant  southern  slave 


12  Abraham  Lincoln 


aristocracy  was  forced  to  submit  or  be  utterly  destroyed  in  person 
and  property,  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  was  issued  and  the 
United  States  Constitution  itself  revised  to  conform  to  the  very 
ideas  and  principles  of  Lincoln,  as  set  forth  in  1854-1860  when  he 
was  scarcely  known  outside  of  Illinois. 

Here  was  a  man  who  came  from  comparative  obscurity,  born 
in  a  log  cabin  in  the  forest  of  the  then  far  West,  with  no  cultured 
parents  to  train  him  excepting  the  good  influence  of  his  step- 
mother, or  give  him  the  advantages  of  a  liberal  education,  and 
who,  by  applying  himself  with  earnestness  to  study  with  scarcely 
any  outside  help,  continually  mastering  useful  information  gained 
from  every  available  source  including  the  law,  finally  rose  above 
the  rude  environment  of  his  early  days  and  at  last  accomplished 
the  great  object  of  his  life,  for  which  he  firmly  believed  he  was 
destined  by  his  heavenly  Father  whom  he  always  reverenced  and 
in  whom  he  had  boundless  faith. 


UNCOIvN    AND    DOUGLAS. 

I  well  remember  the  excitement  in  politics  about  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill  advocated  by  Douglas,  who  was  scheming  to  be 
elected  president  and  wished  to  gain  the  support  of  the  South,  the 
talk  about  state  sovereignty,  the  slave  question,  and  the  Dred 
Scott  decision.  A  close  study  of  the  speeches  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln during  his  contest  with  Judge  Douglas  will  show  that  he  was 
thoroughly  informed  as  to  the  history  of  his  country  and  the  great 
principles  underlying  our  representative  democracy.  He  severely 
criticised  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  was  not  afraid 
to  arraign  Chief  Justice  Taney  before  the  bar  of  public  opinion. 
He  said,  "the  sacredness  that  Judge  Douglas  throws  around  this 
decision  is  a  degree  of  sacredness  that  has  never  been  thrown  be- 
fore around  any  other  decision.  Chief  Justice  Taney  insists  that 
negroes  are  no  part  of  the  people  who  made,  or  for  whom  was 
made,  the  Declaration  of  Independence  or  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  On  the  contrary  Judge  Curtis  in  his  dissenting 
opinion  shows  that  in  five  of  the  then  thirteen  states  free  negroes 
were  voters." 

The  election  of  Lincoln  in  i860,  for  whom  I  voted  in  1864,  was 
a  protest  against  the  Supreme  Court  decisions  in  the  Dred 
Scott  case.  The  result  was  that  slavery  was  never  extended  into 
the  Territories,  and  this  famous  decision  was  practically  an- 
nulled by  the  will  of  the  majority  carried  out  through  Abraham 
Lincoln. 

Referring  to  Douglases  speeches,  he  said:  "He  doesn't  care 
whether  slavery  is  voted  up  or  voted  down  in  the  territory.    If  it 


Abraham  Lincoln  13 


is  wrong  he  cannot  say  that  the  people  have  a  right  to  do  wrong. 
It  is  the  eternal  struggle  between  these  two  principles,  right  and 
wrong,  throughout  the  world.  The  one  is  the  common  right  of 
humanity  and  the  other  the  divine  right  of  kings.  It  is  the  same 
spirit  that  says,  you  toil  and  work  and  earn  bread  and  I'll  eat  it. 
No  matter  in  what  shape  it  comes,  whether  from  the  mouth  of 
a  king,  or  from  one  race  of  men  as  an  apology  for  enslaving 
another  race,  it  is  the  same  hypocritical  principle." 

When  Judge  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  and  later,  other  prominent 
advocates  of  slavery  came  in  contact  with  his  master  mind,  which 
by  its  own  efforts  had  acquired  a  vast  fund  of  legal  and  politi- 
cal information,  they  were  resisted  and  overpowered  in  a  manner 
not  expected. 

He  advanced  step  by  step,  at  first  arguing  the  case  with  Douglas 
with  the  people  listening ;  then,  after  election  defining  the  position 
of  the  seceding  states,  and  finally  forcing  them  to  yield  and  un- 
willingly accept  his  position. 

Stump  speaking  was  then  customary  and  the  woods  near  Spring- 
field often  reverberated  with  oratory  delivered  on  stumps  in  the 
groves  near  Springfield  and  at  the  County  Fair,  slavery  and  state 
rights  being  the  chief  subjects.  There  were  no  questions  to  be  de- 
bated then  concerning  great  trusts,  there  was  no  Standard  Oil 
company,  Steel  or  Tobacco  trust,  multimillionaires  who  tried  to 
control  the  money  market,  nor  national  banks,  but  we  had  plenty 
of  wild  cat  currency,  good  one  day,  of  no  account  the  next. 

Messrs.  Nicolay  and  Hay  state  in  their  history  of  Lincoln :  "In 
1838  wheat  was  50^  a  bushel,  rye  was  354*,  corn  and  oats  25^, 
butter  was  8$  a  pound,  and  eggs  were  8<£  a  dozen  and  pork  was 
2l/2^  a  pound."  Eggs  and  butter  were  plentiful  and  cheap  in 
those  anti-bellum  times  and  there  were  few  large  cold  storage 
warehouses  where  goods  could  be  accumulated  to  accommodate 
large  combines.  We  had  a  stage  coach  with  two  or  four  lively 
horses,  and  Lincoln  had  to  use  these  or  a  horse  and  buggy  when 
making  the  circuit  to  try  law  cases.  There  were  no  aeroplanes 
or  automobiles,  and  few  railroads.  There  were  no  great  monop- 
olies ;  every  man  had  an  even  chance  in  business,  the  worst  cloud 
on  the  horizon  being  the  slave  question,  and  Lincoln  and  Douglas 
were  hard  at  work  thrashing  out  the  pros  and  cons  of  this 
problem. 


WAR   TIME    WRITER   TELLS   OF   LINCOLN    AND  DOUGLAS. 

Fifty-six  years  ago  Horace  White  reported  for  The  Tribune 
the  epoch  making  debates  between  Abraham  Lincoln  and  Stephen 
A.  Douglas.     Recently,  before  an  audience  of  old  and  young 


14  Abraham  Lincoln 


at  the  Chicago  Historical  society,  Mr.  White,  who  has  been  in  more 
recent  years  a  famous  New  York  editor,  retold  the  story  of  the 
politics  that  made  Lincoln  president  and  cost  the  "Little  Giant" 
the  honor. 

More  than  half  a  century  of  reflection  has  mellowed  Mr. 
White's  views  of  the  political  struggle,  but  his  memory  is  unim- 
paired. His  descriptions  proved  that  age  has  not  withered  his 
"nose  for  the  news,"  but  he  was  able  to  editorialize  to  an  extent 
probably  not  permitted  by  his  editorial  superiors  even  in  those 
bitter  days. 

In  leading  up  to  his  description  of  the  debates,  Mr.  White 
sketched  the  growth  of  slavery  in  America,  and  the  incidents  lead- 
ing up  to  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise.  Lincoln  he 
described  as  having  served  one  term  in  congress  and  little  known. 
Douglas  was  the  reverse,  "his  advance  being  so  rapid  that  it 
seemed  as  if  he  had  only  to  ask  to  be  given  his  choice  at  the  hands 
of  his  fellow  citizens,"  as  Mr.  White  described  him.  (Chicago 
Tribune,  Feb.  13,  1913.) 

DOUGLAS  LIKE  A  UON. 

"Douglas  had  a  large  head  surmounted  by  a  mane,  giving  the 
impression  of  a  lion  about  to  roar  or  devour  its  prey,"  continued 
the  speaker.  "He  was  but  5  feet  4  inches  in  height,  but  he  earned 
the  title  of  the  'little  giant.'  He  was  probably  the  biggest  man  in 
the  United  States,  but  he  was  color  blind  to  the  moral  principles 
of  slavery. 

"Lincoln  was  then  in  Springfield,  a  lawyer,  with  a  far  from 
lucrative  practice,  but  possessing  a  great  reputation  as  a  story  tell- 
er. He  was  first  of  all  a  politician,  using  the  word  in  its  best  sense. 
But  for  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise  he  probably  would 
have  remained  a  country  lawyer,  riding  the  central  Illinois  circuit 
and  entertaining  tavern  loungers  with  funny  stories.  He  would 
have  been  unsung  and  unheard  of.  But  he  believed  the  country 
could  not  exist,  half  free  and  half  slave,  and  he  told  some  friends 
so,  but  was  advised  to  keep  his  views  quiet." 

The  seven  joint  debates  of  1858  were  but  a  continuation  of 
discussions  by  the  same  "champions"  in  1854,  and  Mr.  White  is 
believed  to  be  the  only  living  man  who  heard  all  these  famous 
efforts. 

HOOTED  DOWN  IN   CHICAGO. 

"Douglas  came  home  to  Illinois  in  1854  to  defend  his  course  in 
the  Nebraska  bill,"  Mr."  White  continued,  "and  spoke  in  Chicago, 
but  he  was  practically  hooted  from  the  platform.     He  spoke  at 


Abraham  Lincoln  15 


Springfield,  and  the  following  day  Lincoln  replied  in  the  same  hall 
and  in  Douglas's  presence.  It  was  a  great  speech  and  the  first 
that  gave  a  true  measure  of  his  ability.  I  was  then  20  years  of 
age,  and  the  impression  I  received  was  overwhelming.  That  im- 
pression has  lost  nothing  by  the  passage  of  time.  Lincoln  was 
then  45,  and  at  the  maturity  of  his  powers. 

"Between  1854-58  came  the  war  in  Kansas  and  the  birth  of 
the  Republican  party.  Seward,  Greely,  and  other  eastern  Repub- 
lican leaders  advised  joining  forces  to  re-elect  Douglas  to  the 
senate,  but  the  Illinois  forces,  feeling  they  knew  Douglas  better, 
were  working  for  Lincoln. 


CHALLENGE  COMES  FROM  LINCOLN. 

"The  debates  were  the  result  of  a  challenge  by  Lincoln.  Doug- 
las's forces  were  against  acceptance,  not  because  they  thought  he 
would  be  worsted  by  Lincoln,  but  because  his  great  fame  would 
draw  thousands  who  would  otherwise  never  hear  Lincoln.  But 
the  challenge  was  accepted,  though  limited  to  seven  debates.  All 
were  held  at  the  open  air. 

"The  first  meeting  was  held  at  Ottawa  on  August  21  with  im- 
mense attendance. 

"Douglas  opened  with  his  remarkable  fluency  that  covered 
many  rocks  and  quicksands,  and  attacked  Lincoln's  stand  that  the 
government  could  not  exist  half  free  and  half  slave.  'Didn't 
Washington,  Hamilton,  Jefferson,  and  Jay  in  drawing  the  con- 
stitution leave  each  state  free  to  choose  ?'  he  asked.  He  ended  in 
a  whirlwind  of  applause  and  Lincoln  started  in.  Lincoln  had  a 
high  pitched  falsetto  voice  that  resembled  the  pipe  of  a  boat- 
swain's whistle,  and  he  often  had  to  stop  for  repairs  in  the  middle 
of  a  sentence.  Both  mind  and  body  worked  more  slowly  than 
in  Douglas's  case.  No  one  ever  caught  Douglas  napping  and  he 
was  quick  as  a  flash  in  answering  questions  and  making  his  in- 
terrupters feel  their  inferiority. 


EARNESTNESS  WINS  HEARERS. 

"What  Lincoln  lacked  in  mental  agility  he  made  up  in  moral 
force  and  earnestness,  and  he  responded  to  Douglas's  attacks  by 
saying  the  'Little  Giant's'  arguments  were  'a  specious  and  fantas- 
tic array  of  words  by  which  a  man  might  prove  a  horse  chestnut 
to  be  a  chestnut  horse.' 

"Six  days  later  they  met  at  Freeport  in  the  most  famous  debate 
of  the  seven  because  of  the  question  put  by  Lincoln  to  Douglas 


16  Abraliam  Lincoln 


as  to  the  powers  of  the  people  of  a  territory  to  exclude  slavery 
from  their  borders  and  Douglas's  remedy  of  local  police  regula- 
tion and  popular  sovereignty.  Although  Douglas's  answer  at 
Freeport  cost  him  the  presidential  nomination,  two  years  later  it 
saved  him  the  senatorship." 

The  third  debate  was  at  Jonesboro.  In  "Egypt,"  where  Repub- 
lican votes  were  always  recorded  as  "scattering,"  Mr.  White  said 
the  attendance  was  small,  but  Lincoln  "demolished"  his  op- 
ponent's Freeport  speech.  Then  came  the  fourth  meeting  at 
Charleston,  Coles  county.  The  fifth  was  at  Galesburg,  the  sixth  at 
Qttincy,  and  the  last  at  Alton. 

"Douglas  did  not  make  an  engaging  picture  in  the  debates," 
said  Mr.  White,  "but  he  won  according  to  the  rules  of  the  game. 
Douglas  had  a  majority  of  three  in  the  senate  and  five  in  the 
house,  but  Lincoln  had  a  popular  plurality  of  more  than  4000. 
Providence  directed  events  better  than  we  could  have  done.  Had 
Douglas  lost  the  senatorship  he  would  not  have  had  the  strength 
to  split  the  Democratic  party.  Had  Lincoln  been  elected  senator 
he  probably  would  not  have  been  nominated  for  the  presidency. 

"Douglas's  day  of  glory  came  later  when  Sumter  was  fired  on 
and  he  aligned  himself  with  Lincoln  and  came  home  to  hold  the 
state  in  the  Union.  I  heard  him  address  the  legislature,  and  I 
cannot  conceive  that  Demosthenes,  Patrick  Henry,  or  any  other 
orator  could  have  surpassed  his  remarkable  outburst  of  passion, 
perspiration,  and  patriotism  and  his  tremendous  earnestness.  He 
was  the  only  man  who  could  have  held  the  southern  counties  of 
Illinois  for  the  union,  and  he  did  it." 


THERE   WERE   GIANTS    IN   THOSE   DAYS. 

Whitney,  in  his  "Life  on  the  Circuit  with  Lincoln"  says : 
"While  Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  profoundly  versed  in  black  letter, 
or  yet  case  law,  still  he  effectively  met  the  best  of  the  profession, 
at  first  in  fourteen  and  thereafter  in  eight  different  counties,  as 
well  as  the  several  circuit  riders.  In  his  own  county  he  was  an- 
tagonized by  Logan,  Stewart,  Edwards,  Lamborn,  Broadwell, 
Baker  and  Hay ;  in  Shelby  he  was  confronted  by  Anthony,  Thorn- 
ton, and  Samuel  W.  Moulton;  in  Macon  County,  by  Richard  J. 
Oglesby,  Benedict,  Brower,  Bunn,  and  Seth  Post ;  in  Coles  County, 
by  General  Linder,  and  O.  B.  Ficklin ;  in  Danville,  by  Oliver  L. 
Davis,  John  J.  Brown,  and  Isaac  P.  Walker;  in  Clinton,  by  Clif- 
ton H.  Moore,  and  Solomon  Lewis :  in  Bloomington,  by  Gridley, 
Judge  Scott,  William  H.  Hannah,  Amos  McWilliams  and  Win- 
kezer;  in  Mt.  Pulaski  by  Samuel  C.  Post  and  in  Champaign  by 
William  J.  Cowers;  while,  generally,  in  the  later  days  on  the 


Abraham  Lincoln  17 


circuit,  Leonard  J.  Swett  antagonized  him  in  most  of  the  cases 
of  importance  in  all  courts." 

"There  were  giants  in  those  days.  Those  were  great  men,  in 
fact  three  of  them  were  at  times  supreme  judges,  four  of  them  be- 
came congressmen,  three  United  States  senators,  and  one  a  gover- 
nor. Two  or  three  of  them  were  among  the  best  lawyers  in  the 
state,  or  any  other  state." 

Abraham  Lincoln,  was  a  man  who  stood  up  and  boldly  executed 
the  laws  and  compelled  obedience  to  a  government  organized  by 
the  people,  for  the  people. 

Though  continually  surrounded  by  scheming  and  treacherous 
politicians,  corrupting  and  perverting  the  legislative  and  judicial 
branches  of  the  government  in  order  to  foster  and  perpetuate  slav- 
ery in  the  United  States  he  rose  above  and  overpowered  all  his 
opponents,  and  after  a  bitter  struggle  against  opposition  and  seem- 
ingly insurmountable  difficulties,  struck  the  shackles  from  the 
slave  and  left  the  nation,  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name,  a  nation  of 
free  men.  He  not  only  gave  liberty  to  the  negro,  but  he  gave 
a  more  enduring  freedom  to  every  living  and  every  future  citizen 
and  inhabitant  of  our  great  republic,  if  not  of  the  world. 

As  Abraham  Lincoln  grew  in  physical  proportion  and  strength 
externally,  his  inner  consciousness,  his  mental  and  spiritual  being, 
was  developing  rapidily  under  his  own  self-culture  and  masterful 
endeavor  to  become  a  well-informed  citizen  of  this  great  republic. 
Step  by  step  he  mounted  upward  until  he  was  able  through  his 
studious  investigation  of  the  laws  and  history  of  the  political  is- 
sues of  the  day,  to  meet  and  overcome  some  of  the  greatest  or- 
ators and  politicians  of  his  day. 


Abraham  Lincoln  19 


CHAPTER  II. 

ORGANIZATION    OF   THE   REPUBLICAN    PARTY LINCOLN'S    NOMINA- 
TION —  Douglas's  nomination  —  Lincoln's  election — 

DOUGLAS   STANDS  BY  THE   UNION   AND  ADVISES  OTHERS  TO  DO 

SO APRIL    23,    ANNIVERSARY    OF    DOUGLASES    BIRTHDAY THE 

REPUBLICAN  PARTY  FOUNDED  ON  THE  DECLARATION  OP  INDE- 
PENDENCE. 

On  October  15,  1854,  a  mass  convention  of  the  anti-Nebraska 
men,  was  held  at  Springfield,  when  the  following  resolution  was 
adopted:  "First,  resolved,  that  we  believe  this  truth  to  be  self- 
evident,  that  when  parties  become  subversive  of  the  ends  for 
which  they  are  established,  or  incapable  of  restoring  the  govern- 
ment to  the  true  principles  of  the  Constitution,  it  is  the  right  and 
duty  of  the  people  to  dissolve  the  political  bonds  by  which  they 
may  have  been  connected  therewith,  and  to  organize  new  parties 
upon  such  principles  and  with  such  views  as  the  exigencies  of  the 
nation  may  demand.,, 


BEGINNING  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY A  MEMORABLE  GATHERING. 

The  following  is  copied  from  a  pamphlet  published  by  William 
A.  Meese,  Moline,  Illinois. 

The  first  state  fair  was  being  held  at  Springfield  during  the  time 
the  above  convention  was  in  session,  and  the  4th  of  October  had 
been  advertised  as  the  day  when  Senator  Douglas  and  others 
would  speak.  Rumor  was  current  that  both  Judges  Breese  and 
Trumbull  would  be  there  to  answer  Douglas.  There  was  a  large 
attendance  from  all  over  the  state.  Senator  Douglas  arrived  but 
Breese  and  Trumbull  failed  to  appear.  Abraham  Lincoln,  who 
was  present,  consented  to  discuss  the  questions  of  the  day  with 
Mr.  Douglas.  This  was  the  first  measuring  of  strength  of  the 
two  master  minds,  who  had  such  a  large  part  in  shaping  the  future 
destinies  of  this  country.  The  debate  was  held  in  the  hall  of  rep- 
resentatives. Mr.  Lincoln  opened  the  discussion  in  a  speech  of 
two  hours. 

He  (a  Whig)  claimed  to  be  national  in  his  views;  was  opposed 
to  disturbing  slavery  where  it  existed  in  the  states ;  would  sustain 
an  efficient  slave  law,  because  of  the  clear  grant  of  power  in  the 


20  '  Abraham  Lincoln 


constitution  for  the  recovery  of  fugitives  from  labor ;  believed 
that  congress  had  power,  and  should  exercise  it,  to  prohibit  slavery 
in  the  territories,  citing  the  ordinance  of  1787.  He  also  took 
the  broad  ground  derived  from  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
that  the  white  man  had  no  right  to  impose  laws  upon  the  blacks 
for  their  government  without  their  consent ;  and  concluded  with  a 
vigorous  attack  upon  Douglas  personally,  taking  as  his  text  the 
celebrated  apostrophe  of  that  gentleman  in  1849,  tnat  the 
Missouri  compromise  was  canonized  in  the  hearts  of  the  American 
people,  which  no  ruthless  hand  could  dare  to  be  reckless  enough  to 
disturb.  He  spoke  with  singular  power,  and  being  deeply  moved 
himself,  carried  his  audience  with  him  step  by  step  in  rapt  atten- 
tion, by  his  eloquence,  until  his  argument  broke  like  a  sun  over 
their  understanding.  Mr.  Lincoln's  speech  was  heartily  endorsed 
by  the  convention. 

Mr.  Douglas  in  answer,  showed  that  the  principle  of  legislation 
in  the  adjustment  measures  of  1850,  supported  by  patriot  whigs 
and  democrats  alike  as  a  finality,  was  precisely  the  same  as  that 
embodied  in  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  and  that  the  insertion  of 
the  words  declaring  the  Missouri  line  inoperative  and  void  by  a 
southern  whig,  was  mere  surplusage,  and  did  not  change  the  legal 
effect  at  all ;  that  aside  from  these  words  the  act  was  the  same  in 
its  grant  of  legislative  powers  as  that  of  Utah  and  New  Mexico, 
which  had  met  the  approbation  of  all  parties  except  ultra  abolition- 
ists. The  argument  of  his  adversary,  his  friends  claimed,  was 
met,  point  by  point,  repelling  his  assaults  and  exposing  his 
sophistry  in  a  scathing  and  triumphant  manner,  as  only  the  'Little 
Giant,'  with  his  ready  powers  of  debate,  of  all  men  in  America 
could  have  done,  carrying  conviction  home  to  the  minds  of  his 
hearers  until  their  pent  up  enthusiasm  knowing  no  bounds,  burst 
forth  in  ringing  applause  from  a  thousand  throats. 


THE  NAME)  REPUBLICAN. 

Who  first  suggested  the  name  Republican  for  the  anti-Kansas- 
Nebraska  partisans  is  not  definitely  known,  but  on  March  29th, 
1854,  Major  Alvin  E.  Bovay  of  Ripon,  Wisconsin,  wrote  to  the 
New  York  Tribune,  urging  Horace  Greeley  to  recommend  this 
name  for  the  new  party  that  it  was  proposed  to  form.  The  first 
state  convention  to  adopt  the  name  republican  was  that  of  Michi- 
gan at  Jackson  on  July  6th,  1854.  Wisconsin  followed  July  13th, 
and  Vermont  adopted  the  name  the  same  day. 


Abraham  Lincoln  21 


THE  FIRST  CALL. 

There  seems  to  have  been  a  general  understanding  for  a  united 
effort  to  organize  a  national  anti-slavery  party,  for  we  hear  of 
gatherings  being  called  at  or  about  the  same  time  in  various  states. 
In  this  state  credit  is  due  to  a  newspaper  man. 

Some  time  before  the  holidays  in  December,  1855,  Paul  Selby, 
then  editor  of  "The  Morgan  (now  Jacksonville)  Journal,"  for- 
merly a  Whig  paper,  but  then  an  independent,  published  an  article 
in  which  he  called  for  a  meeting  of  the  anti-Nebraska  editors  of 
Illinois  for  the  purpose  of  agreeing  upon  a  campaign  for  the  fol- 
lowing year.     The  following  is  the  article  published: 

"All  editors  in  Illinois  opposed  to  the  Nebraska  bill  are  re- 
quested to  meet  in  convention  at  Decatur,  Illinois,  on  the  226.  of 
February  next,  for  the  purpose  of  making  arrangement  for  the 
organization  of  the  Anti-Nebraska  forces  in  this  state  for  the 
coming  contest.  All  editors  favoring  the  movement  will  please 
forward  a  copy  of  their  papers  containing  their  approval  to  the 
office  of  The  Illinois  State  Chronicle,  Decatur." 

This  call  was  published  in  and  endorsed  by  the  following  news- 
papers : 

The  Morgan  Journal,  Jacksonville. 

The  Chronicle,  Winchester. 

The  Illinois  State  Chronicle,  Decatur. 

The  Quincy  Whig,  Quincy. 

The  Gazette,  Lacon. 

The  Pike  County  Free  Press,  Pittsfield. 

The  Tribune,  Chicago. 

The  Staats  Zeitung,  Chicago. 

The  Republican,  Oquawka. 

The  Republican,  Peoria. 

The  Prairie  State,  Danville. 

The  Advertiser,  Rock  Island. 

The  Fultonian,  Fulton,  Vermont  county. 

The  Journal  (German),  Freeport. 

The  Beacon,  Freeport. 

The  Pantagraph,  Bloomington. 

The  True  Democrat,  Joliet. 

The  Telegraph,  Lockport. 

The  Gazette,  Kankakee. 

The  Guardian,  Aurora. 

The  Telegraph,  Dixon. 

The  Gazette,  Waukegan. 

The  Chronicle,  Peru. 

The  Advocate,  Belleville. 

The  Journal,  Chicago. 

The  Journal,  Sparta. 


22  Abraham  Lincoln 


editors  meet. 

The  editorial  convention  met  at  Decatur  February  22,  1856. 
A  severe  snowstorm  which  fell  the  night  before  had  blockaded 
many  of  the  railroads.  Mr.  Paul  Selby  in  his  account  of  this 
meeting  said : 

"The  early  arrivals  included  Dr.  Charles  H.  Ray  of  the  Trib- 
une and  George  Schneider  of  the  Staats  Zeitung,  Chicago :  V.  Y. 
Ralston  of  the  Quincy  Whig;  O.  P.  Wharton  of  the  Rock  Island 
Advertiser;  T.  J.  Pickett  of  the  Peoria  Republican;  E.  C. 
Daugherty  of  the  Register,  and  E.  W.  Blaisdell  of  the  Republican, 
Rockford;  Charles  Faxon  of  the  Princeton  Post;  A.  N.  Ford  of 
the  Lacon  Gazette;  B.  F.  Shaw  of  the  Dixon  Telegraph;  W.  J. 
Usrey  of  the  Decatur  Chronicle,  and  Paul  Selby  of  the  Morgan 
Journal." 

An  organization  was  effected  with  Paul  Selby  as  chairman  and 
Mr.  Usrey  as  secretary,  while,  according  to  its  official  report, 
Messrs.  Ray,  Schneider,  Ralston,  Wharton,  Daugherty  and  Pick- 
ett were  appointed  a  committee  on  resolutions,  and  Messrs. 
Faxon,  Ford  and  Shaw  on  credentials. 

The  most  important  work  of  the  convention  was  done  through 
its  committee  on  resolutions.  Abraham  Lincoln  was  present  and 
was  in  conference  with  this  committee,  and  it  is  claimed  he  dic- 
tated the  policy  of  the  convention. 

The  platform,  while  disavowing  any  intention  to  interfere  in 
the  internal  affairs  of  any  state  in  reference  to  slavery,  protested 
against  the  introduction  of  slavery  into  territory  already  free,  or 
its  further  extension;  demanded  the  restoration  of  the  Missouri 
compromise;  insisted  upon  the  maintenance  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  as  essential  to  freedom  of 
speech  and  of  the  press,  and,  "it  recognizes  freedom  as  the  rule, 
and  slavery  as  the  exception,  made  and  provided  for  as  such,  and 
that  it  nowhere  sanctions  the  idea  of  property  in  man  as  one  of 
its  principles ;"  declared  in  favor  of  the  widest  toleration  in  mat- 
ters of  religion  and  for  the  protection  of  the  common  school  sys- 
tem, which  was  a  protest  against  "Know-Nothingism,"  which  had 
swept  over  the  country  during  the  preceding  two  years,  and  con- 
cluded with  a  demand  for  "reform  in  the  administration  of  the 
state  government"  as  second  only  in  importance  to  slavery  exten- 
sion itself.  O.  P.  Wharton,  of  the  Rock  Island  Advertiser,  was 
one  of  the  nine  men  who  drafted  the  resolutions. 

A  state  central  committee  consisting  of  the  following  gentle- 
men was  appointed:. 
First  District— S.  M.  Church,  Rockford. 
Second  District — W.  B.  Ogden,  Chicago. 


Abraham  Lincoln  23 


Third  District— C.  D.  A.  Parks,  Joliet. 
Fourth  District — T.  J.  Pickett,  Peoria. 
Fifth  District — Edward  A.  Dudley,  Quincy. 
Sixth  District—  W.  H.  Herndon,  Springfield. 
Seventh  District — R.  J.  Oglesby,  Decatur. 
Eighth  District — Joseph  Gillespie,  Edwardsville. 
Ninth  District — D.  L.  Phillips,  Jonesboro. 

For  the  State  at  Large — Gustavus  Koerner,  Belleville,  and 
Ira  O.  Wilkinson,  Rock  Island. 

The  convention  then  adopted  the  following: 

"Resolved.  That  this  convention  recommend  a  state  delegate 
convention  to  be  held  on  Thursday,  the  29th  day  of  May  next, 
in  the  city  of  Bloomington,  and  that  the  state  central  committee 
be  requested  to  fix  the  ratio  of  representation  for  that  conven- 
tion, and  take  such  steps  as  may  seem  desirable  to  bring  about  a 
full  representation  from  the  whole  state." 


LINCOLN  DECLINES  TO  BE  A  CANDIDATE. 

In  the  issue  of  Tuesday  morning,  February  26,  1856,  the 
Rock  Island  Advertiser  gave  nearly  a  two-column  report  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  Anti-Nebraska  Editorial  convention.  In  this 
report  it  says : 

"Abraham  Lincoln  of  Springfield  was  present  and  addressed 
the  convention  at  the  request  of  the  editors,  in  which  address  he 
avowed  his  determination  of  not  allowing  his  name  to  be  used 
during  the  coming  political  canvass  as  a  candidate  for  any  office. 
He  declared  his  preference  for  Col.  Wm.  H.  Bissel  for  governor 
and  expressed  his  conviction  that  he  could  be  elected  and  was  the 
man  for  the  times." 


THE  PITTSBURG  MEETING. 

On  the  same  day  that  the  Illinois  editors  were  in  session,  there 
was  a  similar  convention  held  by  the  Anti-Nebraska  editors  of 
the  state  of  Pennsylvania  at  Pittsburg,  called  "for  the  purpose 
of  perfecting  the  national  organization  and  providing  for  a  na- 
tional delegate  convention  of  the  republican  party  to  nominate 
candidates  for  the  presidency  and  vice  presidency.,, 

The  proceedings  of  the  Pittsburg  convention  are  of  special 
interest  from  the  fact  that  Illinois  men  were  present.  Mr.  Gid- 
dings  introduced  to  the  Pittsburg  gathering  the  Rev.  Mr.  Love- 
joy  of  Illinois.    He  said :  "The  places  of  the  most  of  those  patri- 


24  Abraham  Lincoln 


ots  who  were  about  to  be  shot  down  in  Kansas,  would  be  supplied 
by  other  free  men.  He  was  willing  to  go  as  captain  or  private. 
He  would  rather  be  there  weltering  in  blood  than  to  see  a  set 
of  drunken  ruffians  take  the  government  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
people  of  Kansas." 

Mr.  Charding  of  Illinois  also  addressed  the  convention,  and 
J.  S.  McMillan  of  this  state  acted  as  one  of  the  vice  presidents, 
while  Judge  Edwin  S.  Leland  of  Ottawa  was  made  one  of  the 
national  committeemen.  This  convention  issued  a  call  for  a  na- 
tional convention  to  be  held  in  Philadelphia  on  June  17th  to  nom- 
inate candidates  for  the  presidency  and  vice  presidency. 

The  following  call  was  issued  by  the  state  central  committee  of 
Illinois : 


ANTI-NEBRASKA   STATE   CONVENTION. 

"A  state  convention  of  the  Anti-Nebraska  party  in  Illinois  will 
he  held  in  the  city  of  Bloomington  on  Thursday,  the  29th  day  of 
May,  1856,  for  the  purpose  of  choosing  candidates  for  state  of- 
ficers, appointing  delegates  to  the  national  convention,  transact- 
ing such  other  business  as  may  properly  come  before  the  body. 
The  committee  has  adopted  as  the  basis  of  representation  the 
ratio  of  one  delegate  to  every  6000  inhabitants,  and  an  addition- 
al delegate  for  every  fractional  number  of  2000  and  over;  but 
counties  that  contain  less  than  6000  inhabitants  are  entitled  to 
one  delegate."  The  call  was  signed  by: 
Wm.  B.  Ogden  S.  M.  Church 

F.  A.  Dudley  Thos.  J.  Pickett 

R.  J.  Oglesby  G.  D.  A.  Parks 

Ira.  O.  Wilkinson  W.  H.  Herndon 

Joe  Gillespie  D.  L.  Phillips 

Ira  O.  Wilkinson,  one  of  the  committee  at  large,  was  for  many 
years  a  judge  of  our  circuit  court  and  leader  of  the  Rock  Island 
county  bar.  Rock  Island  county  was  entitled  to  three  delegates. 
The  following  call  was  published  in  the  Rock  Island  Advertiser 
and  Moline  Workman : 


REPUBLICAN  CONVENTION. 

"The  state  central  committee  having  called  the  state  conven- 
tion of  the  republican  party  to  a  meeting  at  Bloomington  on  the 
29th  day  of  May  next,  the  republicans  of  Rock  Island  county 
are  required  to  meet  at  the  courthouse  in  Rock  Island  on  Satur- 


Abraham  Lincoln  25 


day,  the  ioth  day  of  May,  next,  to  choose  delegates  to  attend  the 
state  convention.  It  is  desired  that  all  parts  of  the  county  will 
be  fully  represented.  John  W.  Spencer,  Joesph  Jackman,  John 
V.  Cook,  county  committee.    Rock  Island,  April  9,  1856." 


FOR  A  NATIONAL  CONVENTION. 

In  the  same  paper  is  a  call  "to  the  people  of  the  United  States 
without  regard  to  past  political  differences  or  divisions,  but  who 
are  opposed  to  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise,  to  the  policy 
of  the  present  administration  to  the  extension  of  slavery  into  the 
territory,  in  favor  of  the  admission  of  Kansas  as  a  free  state,  and 
restoring  the  use  of  the  federal  government  to  the  times  of 
Washington  and  Jefferson ;  are  invited  by  the  national  committee 
appointed  by  the  Pittsburg  convention  on  the  226.  day  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1856,  to  send  from  each  state  three  delegates  from  every 
congressional  district,  and  six  delegates  at  large  to  meet  in  Phila- 
delphia on  the  17th  day  of  June,  next  for  the  purpose  of  recom- 
mending candidates  to  be  supported  for  the  offices  of  president 
and  vice  president." 

Twenty-two  states,  including  the  District  of  Columbia,  signed 
the  call  through  conmmitteemen.  E.  S.  Leland  appears  for  Illi- 
nois. 


ANTI-NEBRASKA. 

An  article  in  the  Chicago  Tribune  in  May  of  that  year  shows 
the  sentiment  prevalent  at  that  time  and  it  further  indicates  that 
those  favorable  to  the  formation  of  this  new  party  were  decided 
on  a  leader  in  this  state. 

"THE  BLOOMINGTON  CONVENTION— Only  two 
weeks  will  intervene  between  the  present  time  and  the  day  fixed 
for  holding  the  anti-Nebraska  state  convention  at  Bloomington. 
But,  though  the  time  is  short,  we  wish  to  correct  one  apprehen- 
sion that  has  gone  abroad  in  relation  to  the  proposed  gathering. 
It  is  this:  That  the  convention  is  to  be  exclusively  republican. 
Such  is  not  the  case.  The  republicans,  so  far  as  we  are  informed, 
consent  to  be  represented  there  purely  as  anti-Nebraska  men,  and 
if  there  is  anything  in  their  political  creed  which  points  to  more 
radical  measures  than  old-line  whigs  and  anti-Nebraska  demo- 
crats can  consent  to,  they  have  expressed  their  willingness,  with- 
out dissent,  to  put  such  things  in  abeyance,  and  unite  upon  the 
platform  upon  which  all  northern  men,  who  are  not  avowedly 
pro-slavery,  ought  to  stand.    As  one  of  the  organs  of  the  repub- 


26  Abraham  Lincoln 


lican  opinion,  we  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  we  advise  our 
friends  throughout  the  state  to  such  a  course  of  action.  We  say- 
further,  that  we  know  of  no  man  who  is  identified  with  the  re- 
publican party  who  desires  or  would  accept  a  nomination  from 
the  convention,  for  any  place  whatever.  The  republicans  of  the 
north  wish  to  testify  their  sincerity  by  taking  the  places  of  pri- 
vates in  the  ranks,  reserving  the  right  to  do  battle  wherever  the 
fight  is  fiercest.  They  expect  that  the  nominee  for  governor  will 
possibly  be  a  man  who  differs  with  them  upon  some  matters  con- 
nected with  national  politics,  but  they  do  not  demand  uniformity 
of  belief — do  not  expect  it.  We  know  not  who  may  be  on  the 
ticket  with  Colonel  Bissel,  and  we  do  not  care  what  they  are 
called,  or  what  may  be  their  political  antecedents,  so  that  they 
are  men  of  personal  and  political  integrity,  who  may  be  depend- 
ed upon  to  carry  out  the  views  that  they  will  announce.  The  re- 
publicans ask  nothing." 


COUNTY  CONVENTION. 

On  Saturday,  May  10,  at  2  o'clock  the  first  republican  county 
convention  of  Rock  Island  county  was  held  at  the  Rock  Island 
county  court  house.  John  G.  Powers  was  chairman  and  O.  P. 
Wharton,  editor  of  the  Advertiser,  was  secretary. 

A.  F.  Perkins  of  Moline,  George  W.  Pleasants  and  John  W. 
Spencer  of  Rock  Island  were  appointed  a  committee  to  select 
three  delegates  to  attend  the  convention  at  Bloomington.  This 
committee  presented  the  names  of  N.  C.  Tyrell  of  Moline,  R.  H. 
Andrews  of  Rock  Island  and  J.  V.  Cook  of  Camden,  who  were 
elected  by  the  convention. 


THE  STATE  CONVENTION. 

The  Rock  Island  Advertiser  of  Tuesday,  June  3,  1856,  gives  a 
lengthy  report,  covering  three  columns,  of  the  Bloomington  con- 
vention. As  delegates  from  Rock  Island  county  it  reports  as 
present  N.  C.  Tyrell,  R.  H.  Andrews  and  J.  V.  Cook,  while  Ira 
O.  Wilkinson  is  mentioned  as  one  of  the  state  central  committee- 
men at  large. 

The  Advertiser  in  speaking  of  the  meeting  says :  "It  was  by 
far  the  largest  political  convention  that  has  convened  for  the 
nomination  of  state  officers  within  the  borders  of  Illinois.  Po- 
litical tricksters  had  no  hand  or  part  in  its  doings,  and  from  its 
patriotic  resolves,  we  are  assured  that  the  sovereign  people  have 
made  known  their  will." 


Abraham  Lincoln  27 


the:  resolutions. 

The  following  were  the  resolutions  which  were  unanimously 
adopted  at  the  state  convention: 

"Whereas,  The  present  administration  has  prostituted  its  pow- 
ers and  devoted  all  its  energies  to  the  propagation  of  slavery,  and 
to  its  expansion  into  territories  heretofore  dedicated  to  freedom, 
against  the  known  wishes  of  the  people  of  such  territories,  to 
the  suppression  of  freedom  of  speech,  and  of  the  press;  and  to 
the  revival  of  the  odious  doctrine  of  constructive  treason,  which 
has  always  been  the  resort  of  tyrants,  and  their  most  powerful 
engine  of  injustice  and  oppression;  and, 

"Whereas,  We  are  convinced  that  an  effort  is  making  to  sub- 
vert the  principles,  and  ultimately  to  change  the  form  of  our 
government,  and  which  it  becomes  all  patriots  who  love  their 
country  and  the  cause  of  human  freedom  to  resist;  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  foregoing  all  former  differences  of  opinion 
upon  other  questions,  we  pledge  ourselves  to  unite  in  opposition 
to  the  present  administration  and  to  the  party  which  upholds  and 
supports  it,  and  to  use  all  honorable  and  constitutional  means  to 
wrest  the  government  from  the  unworthy  hands  which  now  con- 
trol it,  and  bring  it  back  in  its  administration  to  the  principles 
and  practices  of  Washington,  Jefferson  and  their  great  and  good 
compatriots  of  the  revolution ; 

"Resolved,  That  we  hold,  in  accordance  with  the  opinion  and 
practices  of  all  the  great  statesmen  of  all  parties,  for  the  first 
sixty  years  of  the  administration  of  the  government,  that  under 
the  constitution,  Congress  possesses  full  power  to  prohibit  slavery 
in  the  territories;  and  that  whilst  we  will  maintain  all  constitu- 
tional rights  of  the  south,  we  also  hold  that  justice,  humanity, 
the  principles  of  freedom  as  expressd  in  our  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence and  our  national  Constitution,  and  the  purity  and 
perpetuity  of  our  government,  require  that  power  should  be  ex- 
erted to  prevent  the  extension  of  slavery  into  territories  hereto- 
fore free: 

"Resolved,  That  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise  was 
unwise  unjust  and  injurious,  an  open  and  aggravated  violation  of 
the  plighted  faith  of  the  states,  and  that  the  attempt  of  the  pres- 
ent administration  to  force  slavery  into  Kansas  against  the  known 
wishes  of  the  legal  voters  of  that  territory,  is  an  arbitrary  and 
tyrannous  violation  of  the  rights  of  the  people  to  govern  them- 
selves, and  that  we  will  strive  by  all  constitutional  means,  to  se- 
cure to  Kansas  and  Nebraska  the  legal  guarantee  against  slavery 
of  which  they  were  deprived  at  the  cost  of  the  violation  of  the 
plighted  faith  of  the  nation. 

"Resolved,     That  we  are  devoted  to  the  Union,  and  will  to  the 


28  Abraham  Lincoln 


last  extremity  defend  it  against  the  efforts  now  being  made  by 
the  disunionists  of  the  admintration  to  compass  its  dissolution, 
and  that  we  will  support  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  in 
all  its  provisions;  regarding  it  as  the  sacred  bond  of  our  Union 
and  the  only  safeguard  for  the  preservation  of  the  rights  of  our- 
selves and  posterity. 

"Resolved,  That  we  are  in  favor  of  the  immediate  admission 
of  Kansas  as  a  member  of  this  confederacy,  under  the  constitu- 
tion adopted  by  the  people  of  said  territory. 

"Resolved,  That  the  spirit  of  our  institutions,  as  well  as  the 
constitution  of  our  country  guarantee  the  liberty  of  conscience  as 
well  as  political  freedom,  and  that  we  will  proscribe  no  one,  by 
legislation  or  otherwise,  on  account  of  religious  opinions,  or  in 
consequence  of  place  of  birth. 

"Resolved,  That  in  Lyman  Trumbull,  our  distinguished  sena- 
tor, the  people  of  Illinois  have  an  able  and  consistent  exponent  of 
their  principles,  and  that  his  course  in  the  senate  meets  with  our 
unqualified  approbation/' 

Although  this  convention  was  not  called  republican,  the  name 
not  appearing  in  the  proceedings,  yet  it  was  well  understood  that 
republican  was  to  be  the  name  of  the  new  party  and  this  conven- 
tion would  select  delegates  to  attend  the  national  republican 
convention  at  Philadelphia.  On  motion  of  John  Wentworth  of 
Cook  the  following  resolution  was  adopted : 

"Resolved,  That  the  delegates  in  attendance  from  the  several 
congressional  districts  be  requested  to  suggest  the  name  of  one 
person  from  each  congressional  district  for  presidential  elector, 
and  three  persons  for  delegates  to  the  national  convention  to  be 
held  at  Philadephia  on  the  17th  proximo,  and  that  a  committee 
of  nine,  consisting  of  one  from  each  congressional  district,  be 
appointed  by  the  chair  to  recommend  two  such  electors  and 
six  such  delegates  for  the  state  at  large." 

Jerome  J.  Beardsley  of  Rock  Island  was  elected  as  the  presi- 
dential elector  from  this  (then  Second)  district,  and  T.  J.  Pick- 
ett, then  of  Peoria,  was  selected  as  a  delegate  td  the  national  re- 
publican convention  at  Philadelphia. 


THE  LOST  SPEECH. 

It  was  at  this  convention  that  Abraham  Lincoln  made  his 
famous  speech,  no  copy  of  which  Was  ever  published,  and  which 
has  gone  down  in  history  as  "The  Lost  Speech."  The  editor  of 
the  Democratic  Press  of  Chicago  in  an  editorial  in  his  paper  on 
May  31,  1856,  said: 

"Abraham  Lincoln  of  Springfield  was  next  called  out,  and 


Abraham  Lincoln  29 


made  the  speech  of  the  occasion.  Never  has  it  been  our  fortune 
to  listen  to  a  more  eloquent  and  masterly  presentation  of  a  sub- 
ject. I  shall  not  mar  any  of  its  fine  proportions  or  brilliant  pas- 
sages by  attempting  even  a  synopis  of  it.  Mr.  Lincoln  must 
write  it  out  and  let  it  go  before  all  the  people.  For  an  hour  and 
a  half  he  held  the  assemblage  spellbound  by  the  power  of  his 
argument,  the  intense  irony  of  his  invective,  and  the  deep  earnest- 
ness and  fervid  brilliancy  of  his  eloquence.  When  he  concluded, 
the  audience  sprang  to  their  feet  and  cheer  after  cheer  told  how 
deeply  their  hearts  had  been  touched,  and  their  souls  warmed  up 
to  a  generous  enthusiasm." 


the:  delegates. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  counties  represented  and  the 
names  of  the  delegates  present  at  the  convention: 

Adams— A.  Williams,  W.  B.  Powers,  E.  A.  Dudley,  Jno.  Till- 
son,  A.  G.  Person,  George  W.  Burns,  James  T.  Furness  and  O. 
H.  Browning. 

Bond — J.  F.  Alexander. 

Boone — Luther  W.  Lawrence  and  Ralph  Roberts. 

Bureau — Charles  C.  Kelsey,  George  RadclifT  and  Geo.  W. 
Stipp,  Jr. 

Calhoun— F.  W.  Kersting. 

Carroll— D.  H.  Wheeler. 

Cass — B.  R.  Frohook. 

Champaign — J.  W.  Jaquith,  Elisha  Harkness. 

Christian — W.  G.  Crosswaithe. 

Coles — T.  A.  Marshall,  A.  Compton,  William  Glasgow,  George 
C.  Harding. 

Cook — G.  Goodrich,  F.  C.  Sherman,  Wm.  A.  James,  A.  H. 
Dolton,  James  McKie,  Geo.  Schneider,  John  Wentworth,  C.  H. 
Ray,  J.  L.  Scripps,  C.  L.  Wilson,  Samuel  Hoard,  A.  Aikin,  H. 
H.  Yates,  I.  N.  Arnold,  N.  B.  Judd,  J.  W.  Waughop,  Mark 
Skinner. 

DeKalb) — Wm.  Patton,  Wm.  J.  Hunt,  James  H.  Beveridge. 

DeWitt— S.  F.  Lewis,  J.  F.  Lemon. 

DuPage— W.  B.  Blanchard,  S.  P.  Sedwick,  J.  W.  Smith. 

Edgar— L.  Munsell,  R.  B.  Southerland. 

Edwards — Wm.  Pickering. 

Fulton— W.  P.  Kellogg,  Robert  Carter,  S.  N.  Breed,  T.  N. 
Hassan,  H.  O.  Phelps. 

Greene — Daniel  Bowman,  Joshua  W.  Armstrong. 

Grundy — Robert  Longworth,  William  T.  Hopkins. 

Hancock— John  Rise,  S.  W.  King,  S.  Worley,  A.  Simpson. 


30  Abraham  Lincoln 

Henderson — W.  D.  Henderson. 

Henry— J.  H.  Howe,  J.  M.  Allen. 

Iroquois — W.  P.  Pearson,  J.  B.  Joiner,  I.  Bennett. 

Jersey — Thomas  Cummings,  M.  Corey. 

Jo  Daviess — Adolph  Meyer,  T.  B.  Lewis,  H.  S.  Townsend,  T. 
Spraggins. 

Kane— I.  A.  W.  Buck,  S.  C.  Morey,  G.  W.  Waite,  A.  Adams, 
W.  R.  Baker. 

Kankakee — A.  W.  Mack,  Daniel  Parker. 

Kendall — J.  M.  Crothers,  J.  B.  Lowry. 

Knox— T.  J.  Hale,  D.  H.  Frisbie,  Jesse  Perdue,  C.  J.  Sellon. 

Lake— E.  P.  Perry,  N.  C.  Geer,  Wm.  B.  Dodge. 

LaSalle — D.  L.  Hough,  J.  A.  McMillan,  David  Strawn,  Burton 
C.  Cook,  Elmer  Baldwin,  C.  H.  Gilman. 

Lee — E.  M.  Ingals,  J.  V.  Eustace. 

Livingston — J.  H.  Dart,  David  McWilliams. 

Logan — J.  L.  Dugger,  S.  C.  Parks. 

McDonough — L.  H.  Waters,  J.  E.  Wyne. 

McHenry— S.  P.  Hegale,  Anthony  Woodspur,  C.  W.  Craig, 
Wesley  Diggins,  Dr.  Abularr,  A.  C.  Joslyn. 

McLean — James  Gilmore  Sr.,  Dr.  Harrison  Noble,  Wm.  W. 
Orme,  delegates;  A.  T.  Briscoe,  Green  B.  Larrison,  David 
Cheney,  alternates. 

Macon — W.  J.  Usrey,  I.  C.  Pugh. 

Macoupin — J.  M.  Palmer,  John  Logan,  Samuel  Brown,  Thom- 
as B.  Lofton,  P.  B.  Solomon,  J.  D.  Marshall,  James  Wolfe. 

Madison— F.  S.  Rutherford,  H.  King,  George  Smith,  M.  G. 
Atwood,  H  S.  Baker,  George  T.  Brown,  John  Tirble,  Gershon 
Flagg. 

Marion — D.  K.  Green,  T.  W.  Jones,  S.  W.  Cunningham. 

Marshall— Robert  Boal,  J.  C.  Tozier. 

Mason— H.  O'Neal,  R.  P.  Gatton. 

Menard — M.  T.  Morris,  George  Collier. 

Mercer — John  W.  Miles,  L.  W.  Meyers. 

Montgomery — WickclifT  Kitchell,  J.  W.  Cassady,  J.  T.  Eccles. 

Morgan— R.  Yates,  J.  W.  King,  M.  H.  Cassell,  J.  B.  Duncan, 
J.  J.  Cassell,  R.  McKee,  M.  J.  Pond,  A.  P.  Wood,  I.  L.  Morrison, 
James  Green,  William  L.  Sargeant,  J.  W.  Strong,  James  Lang- 
ley,  E.  Lusk,  B.  F.  Stevenson,  J.  N.  D.  Stout,  A.  Bulkley,  B.  F. 
Ford,  J.  Metcalf,  J.  Graham. 

Moultrie — John  A.  Freeland. 

Ogle— Charles  C.  Royce,  F.  A.  McNeil,  G.  W.  Southwick. 

Peoria— J.  D.  Arnold,  B.  L.  T.  Bourland,  R.  Scholst,  George 
T.  Harding,  T.  J.  Pickett. 

Piatt— P.  K.  Hall. 


Abraham  Lincoln  31 


Pike — John  G.  Nicolay,  Wm.  Ross,  M.  Ross,  J.  Grimshay,  T. 
Worthington,  W.  E.  Elder,  J.  Hall,  M.  J.  Noyes,  D.  H.  Gilmer, 
O.  M.  Hatch. 

Putnam — B.  C.  Lundy. 

Randolph — Thomas  McClurken,  Casper  Horn,  J.  C.  Holbrook, 
F.  B.  Anderson,  B.  J.  F.  Hanna. 

Rock  Island— N.  C.  Tyrell,  R.  H.  Andrews,  John  V.  Cook, 
Ira  O.  Wilkinson. 

St.  Clair — Dr.  Charles  Vincenz,  J.  B.  Hoppe,  Francis  Wenzell, 
N.  Miles,  F.  A.  Carpenter. 

Sangamon — A.  Lincoln,  Wm.  H.  Herndon,  J.  C.  Conkling, 
Preston  Breckenridge,  Wm.  Jayne,  R.  H.  Ballinger,  Pascal  P. 
Enos,  Wm.  H.  Bailhache,  E.  L.  Baker,  Peter  Earnest,  J.  B. 
Weber. 

Schuyler— John  Clark,  N.  G.  Wilcox. 

Scott — N.  M.  Knapp,  John  Moses,  James  B.  Young,  M.  James 

Stark — T.  J.  Henderson. 

Stephenson — M.  P.  Sweet,  John  H.  Davis,  George  Nolbrecht, 
H.  N.  Hibbard. 

Tazewell— D.  Cheever,  D.  Kyes,  H.  Clark,  George  W.  Shaw, 
John  M.  Busch. 

Union— D.  L.  Phillips. 

Vermilion — Joseph  Peters,  Martin  Bourchall,  A.  T.  Harrison. 

Warren — A.  C.  Harding,  E.  A.  Paine. 

Washington — J.  Miller,  D.  Kennedy. 

Whiteside — William  Manahan,  William  Protrow. 

Will— G.  D.  A.  Parks,  W.  Wright,  J.  T.  Daggett,  Wm.  B. 
Hewitt,  H.  T.  Logan,  A.  Mcintosh,  S.  Anderson,  J.  O.  Norton, 
Ichabod  Coddings,  P.  Stewart. 

Winnebago — F.  Burnass,  W.  Lyman,  S.  M.  Church,  T.  D. 
Robertson. 

Woodford— C.  D.  Banta,  R.  T.  Cassell. 

Total  number  of  delegates — 251. 

THE  TICKET. 

William  H.  Bissell  of  St.  Clair  county  was  nominated  for 
governor;  Frances  A.  Hoffman  of  DuPage  for  lieutenant  gov- 
ernor, but  subsequently  the  name  of  John  Wood  of  Adams  was 
substituted;  O.  M.  Hatch  of  Pike,  for  secretary  of  state;  Jesse 
K.  Dubois  of  Lawrence,  for  auditor ;  William  H.  Powell  of  Peo- 
ria for  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  and  James  Miller  for 
state  treasurer. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  O.  H.  Browning,  Richard  Yates,  John  M. 
Palmer,  Owen  Love  joy,  Lyman  Trumbull,  John  Wentworth  and 
Ira  O.  Wilkinson  were  among  the  strong  men  who  shaped  the 
policy  of  this  new  party. 


32  Abraham  Lincoln 


THE  ROCK  ISLAND  DELEGATES. 

Rock  Island  county's  three  delegates  were  ardent  abolition- 
ists. John  V.  Cook  was  afterward  county  clerk.  R.  H.  Andrews 
was  an  attorney  living  in  Rock  Island  and  died  the  following  Au- 
gust. Nathan  C.  Tyrell  lived  in  Moline  and  was  best  known  as 
Deacon  and  Squire  Tyrell.  He  was  a  strong  abolitionist  and 
was  one  of  the  main  agents  in  the  operation  of  the  "underground 
railway"  in  this  locality.  The  deacon  was  comparatively  a  poor 
man,  and  while  he  gave  twenty-five  dollars  toward  assisting  the 
Free-Soil  people  of  Kansas,  he  could  scarce  afford  it.  In  those 
days  to  get  to  Bloomington  from  Moline  one  had  either  to  go 
by  stage  via  Peoria,  or  by  rail  to  LaSalle  and  then  on  the 
Illinois  Central  to  Bloomington.  The  deacon  was  bound  to  at- 
tend the  convention,  and  not  having  the  money,  started  out  on 
foot  and  walked  the  entire  distance.  On  the  return  trip,  he 
walked  from  Bloomington  to  Peoria,  and  from  there  he 
worked  his  passage  on  a  boat  to  LaSalle,  from  where  he  paid 
his  fare  to  Moline.  Deacon  Tyrell  was  a  man  of  strong  prin- 
ciples. He  attended  the  Bloomington  convention  because  he  be- 
lieved it  was  his  duty,  and  his  course  stands  out  in  strong  contrast 
to  many  of  the  delegates  of  today. 


ROCK  ISLAND  MEETINGS. 

On  Thursday,  June  12,  there  was  held  in  the  court  house  yard 
in  Rock  Island,  an  immense  republican  gathering  of  the  people 
of  that  county.  Gen.  James  H.  Lane  of  Kansas  and  Joseph 
Knox,  attorney  of  Rock  Island,  addressed  the  meeting.  Hon. 
Ira  O.  Wilkinson  was  president  of  the  gathering.  George  Mix- 
ter  and  John  Deere  of  Moline  were  vice  presidents.  Major  J. 
M.  Allen    and  O.  P.  Wharton  were  secretaries. 

Mr.  Knox  had  until  this  meeting  been  a  democrat,  and  he  ad- 
dressed his  audience  for  nearly  two  hours.  The  Advertiser  in 
speaking  of  his  speech  said : 

"His  desertion  of  the  Douglas  fortunes  in  this  state  is  the 
severest  blow  that  they  have  yet  received.  He  is  a  warm  person- 
al friend  of  the  'Little  Giant/  But  his  love  for  his  country  like 
that  of  Brutus  compelled  the  sacrifice  and  we  honor  him  for  the 
noble  manner  in  which  he  did  and  now  maintains  himself." 

Mass  meetings  were  held  in  all  parts  of  the  county,  which  were 
addressed  by  Joseph  Knox,  Ira  O.  Wilkinson,  J.  J.  Beardsley, 
George  Mixter,  George  W.  Pleasants,  Robert  V.  Smith  and 
others. 

On  March  21  there  was  held  another  large  republican  anti- 


Abraham  Lincoln  33 


Nebraska  meeting  at  the  court  house  in  Rock  Island.  John  W. 
Spencer  was  president,  Capt.  T.  J.  Robinson  and  S.  S.  Guyer 
vice  presidents,  and  O.  P.  Wharton  secretary.  J.  J.  Beardsley 
was  the  first  speaker  and  the  press  reports  say:  "He  responded 
in  a  speech  of  probably  an  hour  in  length  of  great  power — log- 
ical, historical,  truthful,  eloquent — convincing. 

"George  W.  Pleasants  upon  call  of  the  audience  followed  Mr. 
Beardsley  in  a  speech  of  about  one  hour  and  a  half,  embodying 
one  of  the  most  eloquent  and  searching  appeals  to  the  common 
sense  and  patriotism  of  the  people  to  which  we  have  ever  had  the 
pleasure  of  listening." 


THE  GERMANS. 

The  German-American  citizens  of  this  county  like  their 
brothers  all  over  the  country  were  abolitionists,  and  this  was  a 
source  of  considerable  annoyance  to  the  democrats.  As  an  ex- 
ample, I  quote  from  the  Rock  Island  Argus  of  April  15th  1856: 

"It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  German  adherents  to  the  nigger 
worshippers  are  mostly  anti-Christians  and  devoted  followers  of 
King  Gambrinus;  and  the  Americans  (Know-Nothings)  are 
mostly  Puritans  and  Maine  lawites.  Yet  both  join  hand  in  hand, 
under  the  misapplied  name  of  'republican'  to  beat  the  democracy, 
the  only  national  party  and  true  friends  of  liberty.  Les  ex- 
tremes se  touchent." 


THE    NATIONAL   ELECTION. 

James  Buchanan  was  the  democratic  candidate  for  president 
in  1856.  Millard  Fillmore  was  the  native  American,  and  on  June 
17th  at  Philadelphia  the  anti-slavery  democrats  and  whigs  of  the 
north  met  and  organized  the  national  republican  party,  and  nom- 
inated John  C.  Fremont  for  president.  While  Buchanan  carried 
the  state  by  a  plurality  of  9164  over  Fremont,  the  entire  republi- 
can state  ticket  of  Illinois  was  elected,  Bissell  receiving  a  majority 
of  4697  over  W.  A.  Richardson,  the  democratic  candidate. 

Rock  Island  county  in  1850  had  only  6937  people  and  in  1856 
our  population  was  16,217.  The  county  gave  Fremont  1308 
votes;  Buchanan  955;  Fillmore  251.  For  governor  Bissell  re- 
ceived 1359;  Richardson  958;  Morris  230.  For  congress  J.  F. 
Farnsworth  received  1302  votes,  a  majority  of  340  over  J.  Van 
Nortwick.  Thomas  J  Henderson  was  elected  to  the  state  sen- 
ate, receiving  1304  votes.  J.  B.  Hawley  was  elected  state's  at- 
torney. 


34  Abraham  Lincoln 


The  Camden  (now  Milan)  precinct  poll  books  were  thrown 
out  by  the  judges  on  account  of  informalities,  the  judges  not  be- 
ing sworn.  This  precinct  gave  a  majority  of  from  28  to  55  demo- 
cratic. 


SOME  ILLINOIS  editors. 

O.  P.  Wharton,  the  editor  of  the  Rock  Island  Advertiser,  was 
an  Ohio  man,  coming  to  Rock  Island  in  September,  1853,  when 
he  purchased  a  half  interest  in  this  paper.  He  continued  in  its 
publication  until  the  spring  of  1858  when  the  paper  suspended. 
Mr.  Wharton  then  left  Rock  Island.  Mr.  Wharton  was  a  pro- 
nounced anti-slavery  man  and  did  much  to  strengthen  the  cause. 
In  1900  he  was  editor  of  the  Journal  and  Local  of  Sandusky, 
Ohio. 

From  August,  1854,  to  February,  1857,  Amos  Smith  published 
in  Moline,  The  Moline  Workman.  Mr.  Smith  was  a  native  of 
New  Jersey,  and  was  one  of  Parson  Hitchcock's  most  ardent  ad- 
mirers. His  paper  fairly  bristled  with  abolition  arguments,  and 
he  had  much  to  do  with  forming  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  in 
Moline.  One  of  his  contemporary  editors  in  this  county,  in 
speaking  of  his  paper  in  1870,  said:  "The  Workman  in  its  po- 
litical tone  was  decidedly  Anti-Slavery." 

T.  J.  Pickett,  who  was  editor  of  the  Peoria  Republican,  one  of 
the  newspapers  to  sign  the  call  in  February,  1856,  was  born  in 
Kentucky  and  became  in  February,  1859,  a  citizen  of  the  city  of 
Rock  Island  where  he  started  the  Rock  Island  Register.  He  was 
in  i860  elected  state  senator  from  this  county.  His  term  ex- 
tended through  the  226.  and  23d  general  assemblies,  and  in  1861 
he  was  government  agent  at  the  island  of  Rock  Island.  In  1862 
Mr.  Pickett  enlisted  in  the  civil  war  and  was  afterward  elected 
lieutenant  colonel  of  the  69th  Illinois  infantry,  and  afterward 
promoted  to  the  colonelcy  of  the  I32d  Illinois  infantry.  After 
the  war  he  came  to  Rock  Island  and  in  1866  was  government 
agent  on  the  island.    In  1866  he  returned  to  Paducah,  Kentucky. 


Lincoln's  address. 

On  December  10th,  1856,  the  republicans  of  Illinois  celebrated 
their  victory  with  a  banquet  in  Chicago.  Among  the  speakers 
was  Abraham  Lincoln.-  The  concluding  portion  of  his  address 
is  worthy  of  wider  dissemination      Mr.  Lincoln  said: 


Abraham  Lincoln  35 


"All  of  us  who  did  not  vote  for  Mr.  Buchanan,  taken  together, 
are  a  majority  of  400,000.  But  in  the  late  contest  we  were  di- 
vided between  Fremont  and  Fillmore.  Can  we  not  come  together 
for  the  future?  Let  everyone  who  really  believes,  and  is  re- 
solved, that  free  society  is  not,  and  shall  not  be,  a  failure,  and 
who  conscientiously  declares  that  in  the  past  contest  he  has  done 
only  what  he  thought  best — let  every  such  an  one  have  charity 
to  believe  that  every  one  can  say  as  much.  Thus  let  by-gones  be 
by-gones.  Let  past  differences  as  nothing  be,  and  with  steady 
eye  on  the  real  issue,  let  us  re-inaugurate  the  good  old  'central 
ideas'  of  the  republic.  We  can  do  it.  The  human  heart  is  with 
us — God  is  with  us.  We  shall  again  be  able,  not  to  declare  that 
'all  States,  as  States,  are  equal/  nor  yet  that  'all  citizens,  as  citi- 
zens, are  equal,'  but  to  renew  the  broader,  better  declaration,  in- 
cluding both  these  and  much  more,  that  'all  men  are  created 
equal.'  n 


ANNIVERSARY   OF   THE   REPUBLICAN    PARTY. 

The  republican  party  dates  its  birth  from  the  republican  na- 
tional convention  held  at  Philadelphia  on  June  17th,  1856.  Yet 
the  republican  party  in  Illinois  was  born  May  29th,  1856,  at 
Bloomington,  and  as  well  said  by  Mr.  Benjamin  F.  Shaw :  "No 
human  agency  in  all  the  tide  of  times  has  accomplished  more  in 
modifying  'Man's  inhumanity  to  man,  which  makes  countless 
thousands  mourn,'  than  the  republican  party.  Its  efforts  have 
been  in  a  spirit  of  pure  patriotism  and  the  universal  brotherhood 
of  man." 


Abraham  Lincoln  37 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE)    NATIONAL,    REPUBLICAN    CONVENTION    AT    CHICAGO HORACE 

GREEL,EY,  THURL,OW  WEED,  EDWARD  BATES,  WIUJAM  M.  EVARTS, 
JOSHUA  R.  GIDDINGS,  CARL,  SCHURZ,  AND  OTHER  HISTORICAL, 
CHARACTERS    PRESENT — STEPHEN    A.    DOUGLAS. 

I  remember  the  Wigwam,  and  the  great  Republican  convention 
held  in  Chicago  on  May  16,  i860.  The  Republican  state  conven- 
tion was  held  in  Decatur  on  the  10th  of  May.  I  was  studying 
law  in  the  office  of  James  C.  Conkling  of  Springfield  and  I  had 
read  Kent  and  was  reading  Blackstone,  two  volumes  of  which  I 
had  already  finished.  When  Mr.  Conkling  went  to  New  York 
to  deliver  speeches  for  Mr.  Lincoln,  I  was  left  in  charge  of 
his  office.  Lincoln  remained  at  home  during  the  canvass, 
but  kept  strict  watch  concerning  the  events  of  the  presidential 
campaign.  Mr.  Elihu  B.  Washburne  in  his  reminiscences  of  Lin- 
coln says :  "The  most  thrilling  event  was  the  monster  Republican 
mass  meeting  held  at  Springfield  during  the  canvass.  It  was 
a  meeting  in  which  the  whole  state  participated  and  was  more 
in  the  nature  of  a  personal  ovation  to  Lincoln  than  a  political 
gathering.  Mr.  Lincoln,  surrounded  by  some  intimate  friends, 
sat  on  the  balcony  of  his  modest  home  and  was  deeply  touched 
by  the  manifestations  of  personal  and  political  friendship." 

Lincoln  went  down  to  Decatur  and  was  present  when  the  two 
old  rails  were  brought  into  the  convention  hall  with  the  inscrip- 
tion, now  famous,  "Abraham  Lincoln,  the  rail  candidate  for  the 
Presidency  in  i860.  Two  rails  from  a  lot  of  3,000,  made  in  1830 
by  Thomas  Hanks  and  Abe  Lincoln,  whose  father  was  the  first 
pioneer  of  Macon  county." 

The  Republican  Convention  met  in  Chicago  May  16,  i860,  and 
nominated  Abraham  Lincoln  as  President,  and  Hannibal  Hamlin 
Vice-President.  William  H.  Seward,  who  received  on  the  first 
ballot  1733^  votes,  to  Lincoln's  102,  was  afterwards  made  Secre- 
tary of  State,  and  Mr.  S.  T.  Chase,  who  received  49  votes  on  the 
first  ballot,  was  made  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  Simon 
Cameron,  who  received  6o1/2  votes  upon  the  first  ballot,  was  made 
Secretary  of  War. 

The  number  necessary  for  a  choice  was  233.  On  the  third 
ballot  Lincoln  had  231%,  and  before  figures  were  removed  a  dele- 


38  Abraham  Lincoln 


gate  from  Ohio  changed  four  votes  from  Chase  to  Lincoln.    Wil- 
liam M.  Evarts  finally  moved  to  make  the  vote  unanimous. 

When  the  national  convention  was  held  at  Chicago,  in  the 
Wigwam,  an  enormous  building  erected  just  to  hold  the  large 
crowds  that  attended  the  convention,  Lincoln  remained  in  Spring- 
field. Lincoln  was  in  the  office  of  the  Sangamon  Journal  at  the 
time  of  the  second  ballot.  Mr.  Lincoln  read  the  telegraph  noti- 
fying him  of  his  nomination,  and  without  stopping  to  receive 
the  congratulations  of  his  friends  he  said,  "There  is  a  little 
woman  down  at  our  house  who  will  like  to  hear  of  this.  I'll  go 
down  and  tell  her/' 

An  interesting  letter  from  Mr.  Clinton  L.  Conkling,  son  of 
James  C.  Conkling,  one  of  the  electors  in  1864. 

Clinton  Lodge, 
Wequetonsing,   Michigan. 

Sept.  2,  1915. 
Bartow  A.  Ulrich,  Esq., 

Chicago,  111. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Ulrich: 

Yours  of  Aug.  30th  has  been  forwarded  to  me  here,  from 
Springfield. 

For  the  true  statement  of  how  Mr.  Lincoln  received  the  news 
of  his  first  nomination,  see  transactions  of  Illinois  State  Histor- 
ical Society. 

No  special  wire  was  at  his  disposal  in  Springfield.  I  was  in 
the  telegraph  office  when  the  news  came  and  had  seen  Mr.  Lin- 
coln but  a  moment  before  and  rushed  out  and  met  him  on  the 
sidewalk.    I  was  the  first  to  tell  him  of  his  nomination. 

Yours  truly, 

Clinton  L.  Conkling. 

There  surely  never  has  been  a  party  national  convention  held 
in  our  country  amid  such  popular  enthusiasm  as  that  which  met 
the  delegates  on  their  arrival  in  Chicago,  surrounded  them  during 
their  whole  stay  in  the  city,  and  accompanied  them  to  their  homes. 

The  building  of  the  great  "Wigwam"  had  been  the  subject  of 
many  telegrams  and  letters  sent  all  over  the  country  which  cre- 
ated a  popular  interest  in  it.  The  outside  attendance  was  im- 
mense. Among  the  delegates  were  Horace  Greeley,  Thurlow 
Weed,  Edward  Bates,  afterwards  attorney-general,  William  M. 
Evarts,  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  Carl  Schurz,  Henry  S.  Love,  Mont- 
gomery Blair,  afterwards  postmaster-general,  Caleb  B.  Smith, 
afterwards  secretary  of  the  interior,  and  O.  H.  Browning,  also 
secretary  of  the  interior. 

The  result  is  well-remembered  by  all.  Mr.  Seward  failed  by 
sixty  votes  to  receive  a  majority  on  the  first  ballot.  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  nominated  on  the  third  ballot,  amid  a  scene  of  en- 


Abraham  Lincoln  39 


thusiastic  excitement  which  a  similar  event  has  never  produced 
before  or  since. 

In  Chapter  IX,  under  the  heading  of  Convention  i860,  in  his 
book  entitled  Illini,  Mr.  Clark  E.  Carr,  graphically  describes  the 
Convention  which  nominated  Abraham  Lincoln.  He  says : 
"Never  before  did  a  candidate  for  nomination  to  the  office  of 
President  of  the  United  States  have  such  sagacious  and  earnest 
supporters  as  Abraham  Lincoln." 

May  19,  i860,  Mr.  Ashmum,  Chairman  of  the  States  Delega- 
tion announced  to  Mr.  Lincoln  at  his  residence,  his  nomination. 
Mr.  Lincoln  replied  as  follows :  "Mr.  Chairman,  and  gentlemen 
of  the  Committee,  I  tender  you,  and  through  you,  the  Republican 
National  Convention  and  all  people  represented  in  it,  my  pro- 
foundest  thanks  for  the  high  honor  done  me,  which  you  formally 
announce.  Deeply  and  even  painfully  sensible  of  the  deep  re- 
sponsibility which  is  inseparable  from  the  honor,  a  responsibility 
which  I  could  almost  wish  could  have  fallen  upon  some  one  of  the 
far  more  eminent  and  experienced  statesmen  whose  distinguished 
names  were  before  the  Convention,  I  shall,  by  your  leave,  con- 
sider more  fully  the  resolutions  of  the  Convention,  denominated 
the  platform,  and  without  unreasonable  delay,  respond  to  you, 
Mr.  Chairman,  in  writing,  not  doubting  that  the  platform  will  be 
found  satisfactory  and  the  nomination  accepted.  Now,  I  will 
not  defer  the  pleasure  of  taking  you  and  each  of  you  by  the 
hand." 


STEPHEN   A.   DOUGLAS. 

The  Democratic  national  convention  met  at  Charleston  in  April, 
but  the  slavery  question  caused  a  split.  The  "seceders"  ad- 
journed to  Baltimore,  where  Stephen  A.  Douglas  was  nominated, 
June  18.  The  pro-slavery  democrats  withdrew  and  nominated 
John  C.  Breckinridge,  of  Kentucky.  The  Constitutional  Union 
democrats,  or  whigs,  had  already  nominated  John  Bell,  of  Ten- 
nessee. 

Mr.  J.  P.  Usher  states,  in  his  reminiscences  of  Lincoln,  that 
"during  the  canvass  which  terminated  in  the  election  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  Mr.  Douglas  omitted  no  occasion  to  express  his  devotion 
to  the  preservation  of  the  Union.  He  traversed  the  whole  coun- 
try and  in  all  his  speeches  left  no  room  to  doubt  his  stand  by 
the  government,  no  matter  who  was  elected.  The  pledges  he  then 
made  he  kept,  and  they  were  of  immense  value  to  the  Union 
cause,  and  for  them  Mr.  Lincoln  never  failed  to  express  his  grati- 
fication and  his  obligation  to  Mr.  Douglas.  No  single  act  of 
Douglas's  life  so  strongly  marked  his  gift  of  leadership  as  that 


40  Abraham  Lincoln 


by  which  he  accepted  a  new  issue  and  without  a  moment's  hesita- 
tion came  forward  and  placed  himself  by  the  side  of  Lincoln  in 
defense  of  the  government,  the  first  as  well  as  the  greatest  of 
war  democrats." 

Judge  Douglas  said,  in  a  speech  delivered  at  Norfolk,  Virginia, 
"that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  all 
others  in  authority  under  him,  to  enforce  the  laws,  and,  I,  as  in 
duty  bound  by  my  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  constitution,  would 
do  all  in  my  power  to  aid  the  government  of  the  United  States 
in  maintaining  the  laws  against  all  resistance  to  them,  come  from 
what  quarter  it  might.  In  other  words,  I  think  the  President, 
whoever  he  may  be,  should  treat  all  attempts  to  break  up  the 
Union  by  resistance  to  the  laws,  as  Old  Hickory  treated  the 
milliners  in  1832." 

At  the  special  session  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Illi- 
nois, he  made  a  strong  and  patriotic  speech  for  a  united  effort 
in  resisting  the  attempts  of  the  slave  power  to  destroy  the  Union. 
He  advised  his  democratic  friends  not  to  allow  their  opposition 
to  the  republican  party  to  turn  them  into  traitors  to  their  coun- 
try. (From  Judge  Franklin  Blade's  Personal  Recollections  of 
Lincoln.) 

"Having  through  a  friend  signified  his  desire  for  an  interview, 
Douglas  went  to  the  executive  mansion  between  seven  and  eight 
o'clock  on  this  Sunday  evening,  April  14,  and  being  gladly  re- 
ceived by  the  president,  these  two  remarkable  men  sat  in  con- 
fidential interview  without  a  witness  for  nearly  two  hours. 

"Judge  Douglas  wrote  the  following  despatch  to  the  Associated 
Press  which  appeared  the  next  morning,  April  18,  1861.  'Senator 
Douglas  called  on  the  President  and  had  an  interesting  conversa- 
tion on  the  present  condition  of  the  country.  The  substance  of 
it  was,  on  the  part  of  Douglas,  that  while  he  was  unalterably  op- 
posed to  the  administration  in  all  its  political  issues,  he  was  pre- 
pared to  fully  sustain  the  President  in  the  exercise  of  all  his 
constitutional  functions,  to  preserve  the  Union,  maintain  the 
government,  and  defend  the  Federal  Capital  if  firm  policy  and 
prompt  action  was  necessary.  The  capital  was  in  danger  and 
must  be  defended  at  all  hazards  and  at  any  expense  of  men  and 
money.  He  spoke  of  the  present  and  future  without  any  refer- 
ence to  the  past/  " 

"On  the  following  morning,  side  by  side  with  Lincoln's  pro- 
clamation, the  whole  country  read  the  telegraphic  announce- 
ment of  the  interview  and  the  authorized  declaration.  Douglas 
nobly  redeemed  the  promises  he  had  given  Lincoln.  He  finally 
died  at  his  home  in  Chicago,  June  3,  1861. 

"Douglas  said  to  the  republicans  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives in  Washington  after  Lincoln  was  nominated :    'Well,  gentle- 


Abraham  Lincoln  41 


men,  you  have  nominated  a  very  able  and  a  very  honest  man/  " 
(Senator  A.  B.  Alley.) 

George  Ashmum  of  Massachusetts  furnished  a  copy  of  this  des- 
patch to  Mr.  I.  N.  Arnold,  who  included  it  in  his  Life  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln. 

"He  made  a  speech  at  Springfield  when  war  was  declared,  call- 
ing upon  all  his  democratic  adherents  to  come  out  boldly  and 
fight  in  defense  of  the  Union.  This  was  a  powerful  incentive 
and  many  obeyed  the  call.  When  the  Missouri  compromise  was 
repealed,  the  South  stood  solidly  for  Douglas,  but  when  he  held 
that  slavery  could  not  be  taken  into  the  new  states  created  out 
of  the  territories  unless  they  voted  for  it,  they  abandoned  him. 
He  advocated  the  right  of  new  states  to  decide  as  to  slavery  or 
not.,, 


illinoisans  celebrate  centennial  anniversary  oe  stephen 
a.  douglas's  birth. 

A  grandson  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  of  greater  stature  than 
his  illustrious  forebear,  but  with  many  of  the  Douglas  features 
which  recalled  to  old-timers  the  famous  opponent  of  Lincoln 
with  vividness,  came  from  Greensboro,  N.  C.,  to  Chicago  and 
heard  "The  Little  Giant"  of  Illinois  politics  lauded  by  those  who 
had  known  and  loved  him  on  the  centennial  anniversary  of  his 
birth. 

The  grandson,  Martin  F.  Douglas,  last  night  read  a  letter  pre- 
pared by  his  father,  Robert  M.  Douglas,  the  senator's  only  sur- 
viving son,  in  which  was  contained  reminiscences  of  the  elder 
Douglas  and  thanks  to  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  which  had 
charge  of  the  day's  memorial  exercises,  for  bringing  to  public 
attention  the  honor  of  the  name.  The  reading  was  in  the  histor- 
ical society's  building,  Dearborn  avenue  and  West  Ontario  street. 

Sitting  in  the  audience  were  Henry  E.  Hamiliton,  organizer  of 
the  "Douglas  Invincibles,"  and  Horatio  L.  Wait,  one  of  the  mili- 
tary guard  on  the  night  of  June  4,  1861,  over  Douglas's  body  in 
Bryan  Hall. 

"The  very  manner  and  gestures !"  exclaimed  both,  startling 
the  young  man's  hearers,  as  the  speaker  emphasized  his  talk  by 
movement  of  hand  and  body. 

"He's  a  grandson  of  Senator  Douglas,  all  right,"  added  Henry 
Greenebaum,  who  made  speeches  for  Douglas  when  the  latter 
campaigned  against  Lincoln. 

The  mannerisms  and  expression  of  the  young  man  were  called 
those  of  his  grandparent  also  by  Cojonel  Francis  A.  Eastman, 


42  Abraham  Lincoln 


Professor  Elias  A.  Colbert,  William  J.  Onahan,  Redmond  Prinde- 
ville  and  others  who  were  friends  of  the  elder  Douglas. 

Colonel  Clark  E.  Carr  of  Galesburg,  a  Douglas  orator  and  per- 
sonal friend,  eulogized  the  Illinois  political  giant  of  earlier  days 
and  concluded  an  address  containing  many  anecdotes  and  histori- 
cal incidents  of  Douglas's  career  with  a  solemn  recital  of  his  last 
moments,  when  Douglas,  dying  from  over-exertion  in  appealing  to 
his  followers  in  the  Wigwam  to  stand  by  the  nation  and  govern- 
ment, gave  as  his  last  message  to  his  sons : 

"Tell  them  to  obey  the  laws  and  uphold  the  Constitution/' 

These  words,  engraved  on  his  tomb,  reflected  the  sentiments 
of  the  crowd  of  old  and  young  that  gathered  in  the  afternoon 
at  Thirty-fifth  street  and  the  lake  to  hear  praises  sung  by  his  old- 
time  friends  and  admirers.  He  was  called  the  man  who  made 
a  Lincoln  possible,  one  of  America's  greatest  statesmen  and  a  man 
of  highest  patriotism. 

Vice-President  Marshall,  writing  to  the  Chicago  Historical 
Society,  said:  "This  great  and  good  man  has  not  received  that 
fair  meed  of  honor  which  the  American  Republic  owes  him." 

The  anniversary  was  observed  also  by  the  Iroquois  Club  at  a 
luncheon. 

While  the  Illinois  legislature  was  celebrating  the  Douglas  cen- 
tennial today,  Representative  E.  Williams  of  Illinois  was  eulo- 
gizing the  "Little  Giant"  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  After 
describing  Stephen  A.  Douglas's  early  career,  Mr.  Williams  said 
in  part :  "His  rise  was  phenomenal.  The  history  of  this  country 
with  all  its  splendid  opportunities  and  brilliant  men  fails  to 
record  another  instance  of  such  rapid  progress  and  achievement." 

United  States  Senators  Lawrence  Y.  Sherman  and  James 
Hamiliton  Lewis  of  Illinois  and  James  A.  Reed  of  Missouri  were 
among  the  speakers  at  a  notable  celebration  before  the  joint  as- 
sembly today  of  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  birth  of 
Stephen  A.  Douglas. 

Other  speakers  were  Robert  D.  Douglas,  a  grandson  of  Stephen 
A.  Douglas  and  a  former  attorney-general  of  South  Carolina; 
William  L.  Davidson  of  Lewistown,  a  veteran  Democratic  editor 
who  knew  Douglas,  and  Everett  Jennings  of  Chicago.  Governor 
Dunne  was  the  presiding  officer. 

Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  state  officers  and  many  promi- 
nent politicians  from  all  parts  of  the  state  were  present.  Several 
men  whose  memory  runs  back  to  the  time  of  the  Lincoln  and 
Douglas  debates  occupied  seats  of  honor  on  the  speakers'  rostrum. 

Governor  Dunne  read  a  telegram  from  former  Senator  Shelby 
M.  Cullom,  who  regretted  his  inability  to  be  present. 

Senator  Lewis  said  "Douglas  had  believed  the  United  States 


Abraham  Lincoln  43 


should  not  meddle  in  other  nations'  affairs  nor  tolerate  interfer- 
ence. 

Douglas  was  lauded  as  the  highest  type  of  statesman  and  patriot 
and  as  a  masterly  friend  of  home  rule  and  state  self-government 
by  the  speakers  of  various  political  faiths,  praising  especially  his 
support  of  Lincoln  once  the  civil  war  had  begun. 

He  compared  the  Senate  in  the  days  of  Douglas,  Trumbull, 
Webster  and  Clay  with  the  present  day  estimate,  saying: 

"In  those  days  the  United  States  Senate  in  influencing  the  opin- 
ion of  the  American  citizen  was  the  most  powerful  legislative 
body  in  the  world,  but  in  affecting  the  market  rates  of  stock  spec- 
ulation it  was  of  little  consideration,  as  it  should  have  been.  The 
reverse  is  seen  in  the  present  day.  In  matters  of  finance  and 
stock  market  gambling  the  United  States  Senate  is  the  most  po- 
tent in  its  least  expression  of  legislation  of  all  tribunals.  But 
such  has  been  its  course  in  later  days  that  in  the  influencing  of 
the  political  opinions  of  the  citizen,  the  United  States  Senate  of 
today  is  the  least  potent  of  any  legislative  body  in  the  world." 

Senator  Sherman  concluded  his  address  by  quoting  from  Doug- 
las's speech  on  judicial  recall  and  the  "recall  of  judicial  decisions," 
as  follows : 

"The  right  and  province  of  expounding  the  Constitution  and 
construing  the  law  is  vested  in  the  judiciary  established  by  the 
Constitution." — (Chicago  Record-Herald,  i0^-) 


Abraham  Lincoln  •  45 


CHAPTER  IV. 


SECESSION   CABAL  AT  WASHINGTON HOWELL  COBB,  SECRETARY  OF 

TREASURY,  JOHN  B.   FLOYD,   SECRETARY  OF  WAR  UNDER  PRESI- 
DENT    BUCHANAN     AMONG     CONSPIRATORS ALSO     JEFFERSON 

DAVIS,   U.    S.    SENATOR   AND   ROBERT   TOOMBS,   U.    S.    SENATOR — 

CAPT.    SHAEFER    DEFEATS    PLAN    TO    CAPTURE    WASHINGTON 

VIRGINIA    SECESSION    ORDINANCE LIBERATION     OF    SERFS    BY 

CZAR  NICHOLAS. 

District  Attorney  Robert  Ould  advised  President  Buchanan  in 
February  1861  not  to  grant  the  order  of  the  Inspector-General  to 
issue  arms  to  the  District  of  Columbia's  troops  in  i860  when 
Washington  was  threatened  by  the  rebels  in  office  in  the  Capital. 
Their  plan  was  to  seize  the  public  departments  at  the  proper  mo- 
ment, and  obtain  possession  of  the  seal  of  the  government.  Shae- 
fer, with  the  National  Volunteers,  was  to  accomplish  this.  He 
was  assisted  in  his  treasonable  movements  by  the  Secretary  of 
War,  John  B.  Floyd,  who  directed  the  Chief  of  Ordnance  to 
cause  to  be  issued  to  Capt.  Shaefer  all  the  ordnance  stores  he 
might  require  for  his  company.  He  also  nominated  Capt.  Shaefer 
to  the  President  for  the  Commission  of  Major  in  the  District  of 
Columbia's  militia,  which  was  finally  granted,  but  subsequently 
recalled  by  Charles  O.  Stone,  who  was  appointed  Inspector-Gen- 
eral, as  Shaefer  would  not  take  the  oath  of  loyalty. 

Senator  Summer  stated  to  Senator  Wilson,  that  in  the  month 
of  Jan.  1861  he  called  on  Mr.  Stanton  at  the  department :  That 
the  latter  made  an  appointment  to  see  him  at  his  apartment  late 
that  night,  and  at  this  conference  described  the  determination  of 
the  southern  leaders  and  developed  particularly  their  plan  to  ob- 
tain possession  of  the  nation's  capitol  and  the  nation's  archives,  so 
that  they  might  substitute  themselves  for  the  existing  government ! 

"That  the  secession  of  Maryland  was  confidently  relied  upon 
by  them  is  well  known,  and  if  it  could  have  been  accomplished 
before  the  count  of  the  electoral  vote,  which  was  to  take  place 
on  the  13th  of  Feb.,  the  rebel  plan  was  understood  to  include  the 
seizure  of  the  capitol,"  said  Stephen  A.  Douglas  in  his  last  public 
speech  May  1,  1861  at  Chicago.    (Life  of  Stanton  by  Gorman). 

"If  the  disunion  candidate  in  the  presidential  contest  had  carried 
the  united  south,  the  scheme  was,  the  northern  candidate  being 


46  Abraham  Lincoln 


successful,  to  seize  the  capital  last  spring  and  by  a  united  South 
and  divided  North,  hold  it."     (Douglas,  Chicago  Speech.) 

Stanton,  Black  and  Holt  co-operated  to  arouse  the  President 
to  the  necessity  of  guarding  the  Capital  and  a  few  hundred 
troops  served  to  remind  the  conspirators  that  there  would  be  two 
sides  to  the  question;  if  force  should  attempt  in  Washington, 
what  had  already  been  done  in  the  cotton  states. 

There  was  a  regular  secession  cabal  formed  at  Washington  to 
assist  the  conspirators.  It  was  composed  of  John  B.  Floyd,  Sec- 
retary of  War  in  Buchanan's  Cabinet  and  afterwards  General  in 
the  Confederate  Army,  Secretary  Cobb,  Secretary  Jacob  Thomp- 
son, Jefferson  Davis,  U.  S.  Senator,  Robert  Toombs,  U.  S.  Sena- 
tor who  was  finally  expelled  from  the  Senate,  afterwards  Brig- 
adier-General in  the  Rebel  Army,  Vice-President  Breckinridge 
and  others.  Floyd  was  succeeded  by  Joseph  Holt  of  Kentucky 
and  finally  by  the  loyal  and  competent  Edwin  M.  Stanton. 

Messrs.  Nicolay  and  Hay  state  that :  "Floyd  lost  no  opportun- 
ity to  favor  the  conspirators.  He  sold  them  at  one  time  five 
thousand  muskets;  then  delivered  five  thousand  from  Boston 
Range  Arsenal,  advanced  quotas  of  arms  to  southern  states  and 
ordered  the  Washington  Navy  Yard  to  manufacture  howitzers  and 
fuses  for  Virginia." 

Secretary  Floyd's  note  was  substituted  for  one  million  dollars 
worth  of  Indian  trust  bonds,  embezzled  from  the  Interior  De- 
partment. Jacob  Thompson,  Secretary  of  the  Interior  at  the  time, 
must  have  known  how  the  bonds  were  taken.  He  subsequently 
went  over  to  the  rebels. 

The  day  before  Charleston  passed  the  secession  ordinance 
Floyd  ordered  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  cannons  transferred 
from  the  Pittsburg  Arsenal  to  the  southern  coast.  This  order 
was,  however,  subsequently  countermanded  by  Secretary  Stan- 
ton. Howard  Cobb  was  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  at  this 
time  issued  a  six  column  secession  address  but  he  was  soon  there- 
after succeeded  by  John  A.  Dix  of  New  York.  He  also  subse- 
quently joined  the  rebel  army. 

Jefferson  Davis  was  in  the  U.  S.  Senate  from  Mississippi.  He 
maintained  that  the  states  possessed  the  right  to  secede  from  the 
general  government,  if  they  so  desired.  He  also  held  that  slaves 
could  be  taken  into  the  territories  and  retained  as  slaves.  Davis 
made  a  motion  in  regard  to  the  Compromise  Bill,  "that  nothing 
herein  contained  shall  be  construed  to  prevent  said  territorial  leg- 
islature passing  such  laws  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  rights  of  property,  (meaning  slaves)  of  any  kind 
which  may  have  been,  or  may  be  hereafter,  conformable  to  the 
constitution,  and  laws  of.  the  United  States,  held  in  or  introduced 
into   said   territory."      Senator    Chase   proposed   the    following 


Abraham  Lincoln  47 


amendment :  "that  nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  construed  as 
authorizing,  or  permitting  the  introduction  of  slavery,  or  the  hold- 
ing of  persons  as  property  in  said  territory."  Mr.  Chase  de- 
clared that  "the  South  will  dissolve  the  Union.  Their  cry  never 
astonishes,  nor  alarms  me;  shall  we  yield  to  the  outcry?  For 
one,  I  say  never !  In  my  judgment,  it  is  time  to  pause.  We  have 
yielded  point  by  point.  We  have  crowded  concession  on  conces- 
sion, until  duty,  patriotism,  shame,  demand  that  we  shall  stop. 
We  of  the  west  are  in  the  habit  of  looking  upon  the  Union,  as 
we  look  upon  the  arch  of  heaven,  without  thought  that  it  can 
ever  decay  or  fall."  Chase  and  Seward  delivered  two  great 
speeches  against  the  compromise. 

"The  principal  of  the  Wilmot  Proviso  which  was  being  dis- 
cussed was  that  freedom  was  a  normal  condition  of  annexed  ter- 
ritory."    (Albert  Bushnell  Hart,  Life  of  Chase.) 

President  Buchanan  continually  looked  to  the  southern  Senators 
for  advice.  Jefferson  Davis  states  in  his  book  that  Buchanan  sub- 
mitted his  message  to  him  to  read  before  it  was  sent  to  the  Senate, 
on  one  occasion,  and  "finally  accepted  all  the  modifications  which 
he,  Davis  suggested."  (Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Confederate  Gov- 
ernment, by  Jefferson  Davis,  Vol.  I,  Page  59.) 

John  B.  Floyd,  Secretary  of  War,  arranged  to  supply  Thomas 
F.  Dayton  and  Senator  Wigfall  of  Texas,  twenty  thousand  mus- 
kets for  Texas  and  South  Carolina. 

Vice-President  John  C.  Breckenridge  and  Gen.  Joseph  E.  John- 
ston, President  of  Board  of  Ordinance,  Officers  Wm.  H.  Trosatt, 
Assistant  Secretary  of  State,  and  Howell  Cobb  of  Ga.,  Secre- 
tary of  Treasury  under  Buchanan,  all  joined  the  Rebel  army 
afterwards. 

The  following  is  what  Jefferson  Davis  said  about  State  rights 
in  the  Senate  when  he  withdrew  from  that  body,  January  21st, 
1861: 

"To  the  South  has  been  proclaimed  the  theory  that  all  men  are 
created  free  and  equal  and  this  made  the  basis  of  attack  upon  her 
social  institutions ;  and  the  sacred  Declaration  of  Independence  has 
been  invoked  to  maintain  the  position  of  the  equality  of  the  races. 
The  Declaration  of  Independence  is  to  be  construed  by  the  circum- 
stances for  which  it  was  made." 

"At  a  cabinet  meeting  to  consider  sending  assistance  to  Fort 
Sumter,  Stanton  instantly  changed  the  tone  of  debates  and  in  the 
discussion  as  to  the  binding  force  of  a  shuffling  unofficial  agree- 
ment to  leave  Fort  Sumter  unprotected,  thundered  out  the  blunt 
truth  to  Floyd  and  Thompson,  that  they  were  advocating  the  com- 
mission of  a  crime,  for  which  if  committed  they  ought  to  be 
hanged,  and  were  urging  the  president  to  an  act  of  treason,  for 


48  Abraham  Lincoln 


which,  if  performed,  he  could  be  impeached,  removed  from  office 
and  punished  under  the  penal  code." 

"Floyd,  who  had  up  to  that  very  time  passed  as  a  unionist,  now 
appeared  in  his  true  character,  and  gave  up  the  contest  by  resign- 
ing. Thompson  soon  followed  on  a  false  pretense  and  Thomas, 
Cobb's  successor  soon  followed  him.  The  President  then  sur- 
rounded himself  with  a  patriotic  cabinet  and  thus  escaped  the  fate 
that  false  friends  had  been  preparing  for  him."  (Gorman's  Life 
of  Stanton.) 

"The  Virginia  secession  ordinance,  though  secretly  adopted  be- 
came quickly  known  to  the  people  of  Richmond.  It  was  immedi- 
ately announced  to  the  State-Rights  Convention  in  session  in  an- 
other hall,  and  Governor  Fletcher,  Senator  Mason,  Ex-President 
Tyler,  and  Ex-Governor  Wise  from  the  convention,  soon  ap- 
peared there  and  glorified  the  event  with  speeches — the  latter 
commenting  on  the  blindness  which  had  prevented  Virginia  from 
seizing  Washington  before  the  republican  hordes  got  possession 
of  it."     (Nicolay  and  Hay's  Abraham  Lincoln.) 

Following  is  a  "Declaration  of  Causes" :  "That  the  several 
states  entered  into  the  union  as  sovereignties ;  that  in  forming  the 
federal  government  they  delegated  to  it  only  specific  powers  for 
specific  ends;  that  the  federal  government  was  not  a  sovereign 
over  sovereignties,  but  was  only  an  agent  between  them;  that 
there  existed  no  common  arbiter  to  adjudge  differences ;  that  each 
state  or  sovereignty  might  judge  for  itself  any  violation  of  the 
common  agreement  and  choose  its  own  mode  of  redress;  conse- 
quently that  each  state  might  adhere  to  or  recede  from  the  union 
at  its  own  sovereign  will  and  pleasure." 

The  leaders  of  the  southern  rebellion  lacked  real  statesmenship 
and  a  clear  understanding  of  the  basic  principles  of  government. 
While  all  civilized  monarchical  nations,  except  Russia  and  Brazil, 
had  abolished  slavery,  these  modern  statesmen  proposed  to  found 
a  republic  with  slavery  as  its  corner  stone.  These  two  systems 
are  antagonistic.  They  were  a  century  behind  the  time.  They 
declared  the  states  individual  entities,  or  sovereignties,  in  direct 
opposition  to  the  intention  of  the  statesmen  who  substituted  the 
former  articles  of  confederation  for  a  constitution  prepared  for  a 
united  country  called  the  United  States  of  America,  with  a  com- 
plete national  government.  They  attempted  to  found  a  system 
of  government  similar  to  a  monarchy  with  all  of  the  elements  of 
feudal  despotism,  with  a  formula  prepared  for  a  representative 
democracy.  Even  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  was  in- 
consistent before  the  amendment  giving  universal  suffrage,  as  it 
failed  to  prohibit  slavery. 

Had  these  short-sighted  leaders  of  the  South  been  successful, 
there  would  have  been  continual  war  between  these  sovereign 


Abraham  Lincoln  49 


communities,  just  as  there  has  been  continual  war  between  the 
several  sovereign  states  of  Europe,  none  of  them  satisfied  with  the 
property  they  have,  always  wanting  their  neighbors.'  Austria, 
Russia,  Germany,  Italy,  France,  England,  Belgium  and  Turkey, 
with  all  of  the  smaller  states,  have  been  wrangling  with  each 
other  century  after  century.  They  will  continue  to  do  so  until 
kings,  emperors  and  czars  are  abolished. 

It  is  only  by  having  one  strong  government  over  the  entire  coun- 
try comprising  the  United  States,  with  all  the  powers  necessary 
for  maintaining  a  nation  delegated  to  it,  that  the  broad  area  ex- 
tending from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  and  from  the  Northern 
Lakes  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  can  be  kept  from  the  continual  dis- 
putes about  territory  prevailing  on  the  continent  of  Europe. 

To  show  his  position  Jefferson  Davis  quoted  the  following 
words  of  President  Jefferson :  "The  communities  were  declaring 
their  independence ;  the  people  of  those  communities  were  assert- 
ing that  no  man  was  born  booted  and  spurred  to  ride  over  the 
rest  of  mankind;  that  men  were  created  equal — meaning  the 
men  of  a  political  community;  that  there  was  no  divine  right  to 
rule ;  that  no  man  inherited  the  right  to  govern ;  that  there  were 
no  classes  by  which  power  and  place  descended  in  families,  but 
that  all  stations  were  equally  within  the  grasp  of  each  member 
of  the  body  politic.  These  were  the  great  principles  they  an- 
nounced ;  they  were  the  purposes  for  which  they  made  their  dec- 
laration; these  were  the  ends  to  which  their  denunciation  was 
directed." 

Jefferson  Davis  held  that:  "They  have  no  reference  to  the 
slave ;  else  how  happens  it,  that,  among  the  items  of  arraignment 
against  George  the  Third,  he  endeavored  to  do  just  what  the 
North  has  been  endeavoring  of  late  to  do,  stir,  up  insurrec- 
tion among  our  slaves." 

"Had  the  declaration  announced  that  the  negroes  were  free  and 
equal,  how  was  the  prince  to  be  arraigned  for  raising  insur- 
rection among  them?  They,  the  negroes  were  not  put  upon  the 
footing  of  equality  with  white  men." 

He  said:  "Secession  is  to  be  justified  upon  the  basis  that  the 
states  are  sovereign.  There  was  a  time  when  none  denied  it — 
the  inalienable  rights  of  the  people  of  the  states  will  prevent 
any  one  from  denying  that  each  state  is  sovereign,  and  thus  may 
reclaim  the  grants  which  it  has  made  to  any  agent  whatsoever. 
A  state  finding  herself  in  the  condition  in  which  Mississippi  has 
judged  she  is,  claims  to  be  exempt  from  any  duty  to  execute  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  within  its  limits." 

These  were  the  views  of  Jefferson  Davis  when  President  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy.  They  were  directly  opposite  to  the  views 
of  Jefferson  and  Lincoln,  presidents  of  the  United  States.     On 


50  Abraham  Lincoln 


these  conflicting  opinions,  held  by  the  two  different  presidents  at 
the  time,  the  war  was  commenced  and  was  fought  until  the  South- 
ern Confederacy  was  over-thrown  by  military  force,  and  the 
authority  of  the  United  States  government  re-established. 

Jefferson  Davis,  as  President  of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  was 
given  almost  unlimited  power  to  raise,  by  draft  or  otherwise  sol- 
diers for  the  southern  army.  All  white  men  between  eighteen  and 
twenty-five  were  drafted,  but  owners  of  estates  were  allowed  ex- 
emption by  paying  a  tax  of  $500.00  if  they  were  obliged  to  stay 
at  home.     Davis  was  almost  a  dictator. 

The  secession  convention  of  the  cotton  states  had  appointed 
delegates  equal  in  number  to  the  former  senators  and  representa- 
tives in  congress.  These  sat  in  Montgomery,  Alabama,  on  the 
4th  day  of  February,  1861,  to  form  a  Southern  Confederacy,  so 
that  it  would  be  fully  organized  before  the  4th  of  March  and  be- 
fore Lincoln  came  into  power.  The  people,  however,  were  not 
called  upon  to  vote  for  the  declaration  of  secession  in  the  first 
six  states.  Governor  Huston  of  Texas  objected  to  secession,  and 
submitted  the  ordinance  to  the  voters  of  his  state. 

About  the  time  the  South  was  entering  into  a  war  to  maintain 
slavery,  Czar  Alexander  II.,  in  his  manifesto  said,  "That  a  peo- 
ple in  which  a  majority  of  the  agricultural  classes  was  sub- 
jected to  serfage,  could  not  rival  the  European  nations  in  intellect- 
ual progress,  and  it  is  clear  that  in  modern  warfare  success  is  the 
resultant  of  all  the  moral  and  material  forces  of  the  state." 

The  Czar  liberated  45,863,086  serfs,  being  the  unfreed  popula- 
tion of  Russia.  23,300,000  were  crown  peasants.  936,477  were 
peasants  of  peonage.  20,158,231  were  attached  to  the  soil  and 
belonged  to  proprietors.    1,467,378  were  domestic  servants. 

The  edict  was  issued  in  1861. 

Mr.  John  A.  Stephens  referring  to  the  war  of  the  South  said, 
to  Secretary  Chase,  "It  was  a  war  of  the  oligarchy  against 
the  people;  that  slavery  was  the  basis  of  the  oligarchy,  but  that 
the  perpetuation  of  slavery  was  not  more  their  object  than  the 
despotic  power  of  the  class  over  the  mass." 

Though  surrounded  by  scheming  and  treacherous  politicians 
and  rebel  leaders,  corrupting  and  perverting  the  legislative  and 
judicial  brarches  of  the  government  before  and  after  his  election 
in  order  to  foster  and  perpetuate  slavery  in  the  United  States, 
Lincoln  rose  above  and  overpowered  all  his  opponents,  at  home 
and  abroad  and,  after  a  bitter  struggle  against  opposition  and 
seemingly  insurmountable  difficulties,  struck  the  shackles  from  the 
slave,  and  left  the  nation,  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name,  a  nation  of 
free  men.  He  not  only  gave  liberty  to  the  negro  slave,  but  he 
gave  a  more  enduring  freedom  to  every  living  and  every  future 
citizen  and  inhabitant  of  our  republic  and  the  world. 


Abraham  Lincoln  51 


If  owning  negroes  was  an  evidence  of  southern  aristocracy,  then 
we  should  hope  to  be  delivered  from  such  a  brand.  I  emphati- 
cally deny  that  the  slave  owning,  so-called  aristocrats  of  the  south 
were  justified  in  their  pretenses  any  more  than  were  the  success- 
ful stockjobbers  and  monopolistic  millionaires  of  the  North  who 
become  rapidly  rich  by  overriding  the  laws  of  the  country  and 
the  rules  of  honest  dealing. 

A  CARNIVAL  OF  FRAUD. 

While  the  traitors  and  rebels  were  arming  and  attacking  the 
Union  on  every  side  a  much  worse  horde  of  less  courageous  ene- 
mies were  preying  upon  the  vitals  of  the  country  in  every  depart- 
ment of  government.  Henry  S.  Alcott,  who  was  appointed  by 
Secretary  Stanton  to  unearth  and  punish  the  existing  frauds  that 
were  being  perpetrated,  gives  a  graphic  description  of  his  ex- 
perience under  the  caption  of  "Wars,  Carnival  of  Frauds,"  in 
the  "Annals  of  the  War."     He  says : 

"Intrigue  held  the  keys  to  the  kitchen  stairs  of  the  White  House, 
shaped  legislation,  sat  cheek  by  jowl  with  Congressmen,  and  se- 
duced commission  officers  from  the  straight  path  of  duty.  Our 
sailors  were  sent  to  sea  in  ships  built  of  green  timbers,  which  were 
fitted  with  engines  good  only  for  the  junk  shop,  and  greased  with 
'sperm*  oil  derived  from  moss-bunkers  and  the  feet  of  dead 
horses." 

"In  the  Navy  Yard  there  was  a  system  of  corrupt  bargains 
between  the  public  servants  and  contractors,  under  which  goods 
of  inferior  quality  and  short  quantity  were  accepted  as  the 
lawful  standard  and  count;  public  property  was  purloined  and 
carried  off  in  open  daylight." 

He  tells  the  story  of  Salmon  Kahnstom,  "the  giver  of  good  din- 
ners" :  "His  crime  consisted  in  procuring  from  landlords — gener- 
ally German  saloon-keepers — their  signatures  to  blank  vouchers 
which  his  clerks  would  fill  out  for  one  or  two  thousand  dollars 
each,  and  then  either  get  unprincipled  commissary  officers  to  ap- 
pend their  certificates  for  an  agreed  price  or  forge  them.  By  this 
device  he  drew  over  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  from  the 
Mustering  and  Disbursing  office  in  New  York,  of  which  sum  the 
greater  proportion  was  in  due  time  ascertained  by  me  to  be  fraud. 

Eight  cases  of  palpable  forgery  were  designated,  and  the  jury 
after  deliberating  only  twenty  minutes,  brought  in  a  verdict  of 
guilty.  The  court  promptly  sentenced  him  to  ten  years'  imprison- 
ment at  hard  labor  at  Sing  Sing. 

In  a  civil  suit  against  him,  a  large  sum  of  money  was  recov- 
ered and  paid  over  into  the  Treasury  by  the  Trustees  of  the 
felon's  estate." 

At  Louisville  fraud  had  been  perpetrated  in  the  purchase  of 
animals.     A  captain  and  assistant  quartermaster  stood  by  and 


52  Abraham  Lincoln 


both  took  part  in  fraudulent  adulteration  of  grain.  They  were 
convicted,  fined  ten  thousand  dollars  and  imprisoned  for  two 
years. 

The  delinquent  horse,  mule,  hay,  grain  and  other  contractors 
in  the  Department  of  the  Ohio,  were  thoroughly  punished  by 
fines  and  imprisonments. 

In  his  "Third  Semi-Annual  Report"  to  the  War  Department, 
Mr.  Alcott  says: 

"Evidence  was  elicited  tending  to  show  that  the  abuses  of  which 
the  Commission  complained,  extend  over  the  whole  sea-board. 
The  government  has  been  in  the  habit  of  paying  ruinous  prices 
for  the  charter  of  vessels,  some  of  which  have  been  perfectly  un- 
seaworthy.  The  precious  lives  of  officers  and  men,  and  public 
property  to  the  value  of  millions  of  dollars,  have  been  entrusted 
to  rotten  steam-boat  hulks  and  greedy  speculators  and  middle- 
men have  been  paid  for  their  use,  prices  of  the  most  extortionate 
nature." 

"If  we  trace  the  history  of  some  of  the  most  aggressive  corpora- 
tions and  monopolies  existing  today,  we  will  find  they  had  their 
start  during  the  Civil  War,  when  the  two  to  three  billions  of 
government  paper  was  being  distributed  with  a  free  hand  to  con- 
tractors and  manufacturers  in  many  cases  by  dishonest  officers. 
These  corporations  have  not  ceased  to  obtain  support  from  the 
government  to  the  present  day.  Vast  frauds  were  perpetrated  in 
Philadelphia  in  contracts  for  tents,  canvas  goods,  clothing,  shoes, 
and  things  of  various  kinds.  In  the  two  years  the  disbursements 
of  the  quartermaster  has  exceeded  two  hundred  million  dollars 
and  were  running  at  the  rate  of  seventy  millions  annually." 

Inspectors,  contractors,  manufacturers,  and  middlemen  were 
arrested,  commission  officers  displaced,  trials  were  followed  by 
convictions,  fines  and  assessed  damages.  New  inspectors  were 
appointed,  new  standards  established,  and  abuses  were  reformed. 

Secretary  of  War  Stanton,  and  Secretary  of  the  Navy  Wells, 
were  constantly  alert  and  made  every  effort  to  check  these  frauds. 

The  good  judgment  of  President  Lincoln  was  demonstrated  in 
his  keeping  such  honest  and  loyal  secretaries  in  his  cabinet  as 
Stanton,  Wells,  Seward,  Chase  and  Blair,  to  guard  the  interests 
of  the  republic  against  thieves  and  enemies  within,  as  well  as 
traitors  without. 

mr.  Lincoln's  characteristics. 

In  Mr.  Lincoln's  conduct  towards  his  generals,  his  cabinet  and 
Congress,  through  his  moderation  towards  the  leaders  of  the  re- 
bellion and  his  willingness  to  concede  everything  that  it  was 


Abraham  Lincoln  53 


proper  to  concede,  if  they  would  peaceably  uphold  the  Union  and 
the  Constitution,  he  continually  acted  on  the  basis  of  high  Chris- 
tian principles.  We  must  acknowledge  this  to  correctly  under- 
stand the  life  of  Lincoln  and  realize  the  principles  which  directed 
his  actions.  These  were  not  usually  those  prompting  the  am- 
bitious politicians  or  public  leader.  As  appears  to  me,  the  main 
principles  influencing  him  are  the  following : 

Forgive  your  enemies.    Do  good  to  them  who  hate  you. 

Do  unto  others  as  you  would  that  they  should  do  unto  you. 

Do  not  retaliate,  or  return  evil  for  evil. 

Forgive  those  who  trespass  against  you. 

In  settling  a  question  as  to  right  or  wrong,  decide  for  the 
right,  however  hazardous  this  may  seem. 

Make  no  compromise  with  wrong  for  any  temporary  advantage. 

Overlook  mere  personalities  in  the  fight  for  a  great  principle. 

In  referring  to  his  correspondence  with  General  Butler,  De- 
cember, 1864,  when  there  was  a  conflict  between  civil  and  mili- 
tary authorities  in  West  Virginia,  Messrs.  Nicolay  and  Hay  state : 

"One  is  always  surprised  at  the  ease  with  which  the  President 
took  up  these  cases  of  contention  between  officials,  and  in  a  few 
sentences,  pointed  out  the  law  and  the  remedy  with  such  clearness 
as  to  make  it  seem  that  a  child  ought  not  to  have  erred  in  the 
original  decision,  but  more  admirable  still,  is  the  benignant  and 
charitable  spirit  with  which  he  overlooked  and  excused  the  vanity 
and  petulance  which  so  frequently  produced  them."  The  manner 
in  which  he  overlooked  and  forgave  the  continual  criticisms  and 
personal  slight  of  Chase  and  McClellan,  while  holding  official  posi- 
tions under  him,  shows  his  self-control  and  firm  adherence  to 
the  principles  above  enumerated.  It  was  the  same  when  dealing 
with  Fremont  at  the  commencement  of  the  War. 

The  following  is  a  message  of  Lincoln  to  his  cabinet : 

"I  must  myself  determine  how  long  to  retain  in  and  when 
to  remove  any  of  you  from  this  position.  It  would  greatly  pain 
me  to  discover  any  of  you  endeavoring  to  procure  another's  re- 
moval in  any  way  to  prejudice  him  before  the  public.  Such  an 
error  would  be  a  wrong  to  me  and  much  more  a  wrong  to  the 
country.  My  wish  is,  that  on  this  subject  no  remarks  are  made 
nor  questions  asked  by  any  of  you  here  or  elsewhere  now  or  here- 
after."    (Nicolay  and  Hay,  Life  of  Lincoln,  Vol.  9,  p.  339.) 

About  the  close  of  the  war,  Abraham  Lincoln  expressed  the 
hope  that  there  would  be  no  persecution,  no  bloody  work  after  the 
war  was  over.  None  need  expect  he  would  take  any  part  in  hang- 
ing or  killing  even  the  worst  of  these  men.  "Frighten  them 
out  of  the  country,  let  down  the  bars,  scare  them  off,"  said  he, 
throwing  up  his  hands  as  if  to  scare  sheep.    Enough  lives  have 


54  Abraham  Lincoln 


been  sacrificed.  We  must  extinguish  our  resentment  if  we  expect 
harmony  and  union."     (Tarbell's  Life  of  Lincoln.) 

There  were  few  men  occupying  positions  of  authority  at  this 
critical  period  who  could  have  been  entrusted  with  the  almost 
despotic  discretionary  power  vested  in  the  President,  who  would 
have  exercised  this  power  with  so  much  forebearance  and  wisdom 
as  did  this  patient  and  considerate  man,  ordained  to  fill  the  respon- 
sible position  of  executive  of  a  great  nation,  in  the  midst  of  a 
terrible  civil  war. 

Amidst  the  confusion  and  anarchy  prevailing  in  the  government 
when  Lincoln  was  inaugurated  on  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  he 
maintained  a  cool  and  collected  temperament  and  proceeded  to 
bring  order  in  his  administration  and  obedience  to  the  laws  of 
the  country,  nearly  one-half  of  which  was  in  open  insurrection. 
He  was  forced  to  meet  not  only  armed  rebellion  in  the  South,  but 
continual  bickering,  jealousy  and  discontent  among  his  own  ranks. 
The  country  was  without  an  adequate  army  or  navy  and  its  com- 
manding general  was  old  and  unable  to  assume  personal  charge 
of  what  scanty  forces  could  be  collected.  The  treasury  was 
nearly  empty  and  many  forts  and  arsenals  either  in  the  hands 
of  the  rebels,  or  stripped  of  arms  and  ammunition.  But  amidst 
it  all,  there  was  one  methodical  progressive  and  commanding  mind 
constantly  at  work  to  fulfill  the  mission  for  which  he  was  in- 
tended. 

Through  Lincoln's  persistance  and  faith  in  ultimate  success 
when  all  about  him  was  doubt  and  fear,  he  finally  brought  into 
existence  the  powerful  army  well  organized  and  trained  by  Gen- 
eral George  B.  McClellan  and  other  generals,  to  meet  and  fi- 
nally through  Grant,  Sherman,  Sheridan  and  other  aggressive 
generals,  overcome  the  forces  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  un- 
der the  very  efficient  leadership  of  General  Robert  E.  Lee. 


Abraham  Lincoln  55 


CHAPTER  V. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  APPOINTS  HIS  CABINET.  J  EPPERSON  DAVIS  AP- 
POINTS HIS  CABINET.  ROBERT  E.  LEE  APPOINTED  TO  TAKE 
COMMAND  OP  VIRGINIA  TROOPS.  ENGLAND  BUILDS  SHIPS  POR 
THE  CONFEDERACY  AND  OTHER  EVENTS  OP  WAR  RAPIDLY  POL- 
LOW.     NINE  SOUTHERN  STATES  SECEDE.     SUMTER  PlRED  UPON. 

The  public  libraries  contain  many  books  which  give  in  detail 
accounts  of  the  events  connected  with  the  Civil  War.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  attempt  in  this  book  to  re-publish  these  well  known 
incidents — among  these  works  are :  Nicolay  and  Hay's  Abraham 
Lincoln;  Henry  C.  Whitney's  Life  of  Lincoln,  and  Life  on  the 
Circuit  with  Lincoln;  F.  F.  Browne's  Every-day  Life  of  Lin- 
coln; W.  O.  Stoddard's  Lincoln;  I.  N.  Arnold's  Life  of  Lincoln; 
Ida  M.  Tarbell's  Life  of  Lincoln,  and  the  Annals  of  the  War, 
published  by  the  Philadelphia  Times.    Clark  E.  Carr,  The  Illini. 

Those  wishing  to  obtain  a  correct  understanding  of  the  respon- 
sibilities of  Abraham  Lincoln  as  President  and  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  should  read  about  the  many  engage- 
ments on  land  and  sea  between  the  Union  and  Confederate  forces, 
ending  in  the  complete  exhaustion  of  the  South,  and  the  final 
victory  of  the  North. 

His  was  the  controlling  mind,  directing  through  the  complicated 
machinery  of  the  numerous  departments  of  the  government  and 
the  changing  events  of  the  army  and  navy,  the  movements  of  the 
vast  array  of  forces  which  finally  gained  the  victory  desired,  and 
peace  and  unity  was  secured. 


EVENTS   OP  THE  WAR. 

A  resolution  offered  by  Jefferson  Davis  in  the  Senate,  to  ex- 
tend slavery  into  the  territories  was  voted  down.     William  L. 
Yancy,  of  Alabama,  representing  the  southern  states  at  Charleston, 
April  23rd,  made  this  the  main  plank  of  the  democratic  party. 
October  16,  i860. 

Before  the  beginning  of  the  war,  John  Brown  entered  Virginia 
at  Harper's  Ferry,  in  order  to  incite  an  insurrection  among  the 
slaves,  without  any  warrant  or  justification,  in  opposition  to  law 
and  order.     He  was  captured  by  Col.  Robert  E.  Lee,  under 


56  Abraham  Lincoln 


orders  from  Washington,  and  after  trial  he  finally  was  hanged 
with  six  other  companions,  December  7,  i860. 

Congress  met  at  Washington  and  considered  the  secession  prob- 
lem. President  Buchanan  denied  the  southern  states  the  right 
to  secede  but  held  that  congress  had  no  power  under  the  Consti- 
tution "to  coerce  into  submission  a  state  which  is  attempting  to 
withdraw,  or  has  actually  withdrawn."  He  said:  "The  fact  is, 
our  Union  rests  upon  public  opinion,  and  can  never  be  cemented 
by  the  blood  of  its  citizens  shed  in  civil  war." 

Attorney-General  Black  sustained  him  in  this  view.  The  House 
of  Representatives  appointed  a  committee  of  thirty-three  members 
who  stated  that  "any  reasonable,  proper,  and  constitutional  reme- 
dies, and  effectual  guarantees  of  their  political  rights  and  interests 
should  be  promptly  and  cheerfully  given  to  the  southern  states." 
December  18,  i860: 

The  Senate  also  appointed  a  committee  which  reported  later 
that  it  was  "not  able  to  agree  upon  any  general  plan  of  com- 
promise." 
November  8,  i860: 

The  Palmetto  flag  was  hoisted  in  South  Carolina  and  the 
United  States  officers  there  resigned.  Senators  Chesnut  and 
Hammond  resigned. 

Georgia  appropriated  $1,000,000  to  arm  the  state. 

Louisiana  appropriated  $50,000,   for  military  purposes. 
December  17th: 

The  South  Carolina  convention  met  at  Columbia,  adjourned  and 
moved  to  Charleston  on  account  of  small-pox. 
December  20th: 

South  Carolina  passed  the  Ordinance  of  Secession,  and  asked 
the  other  southern  states  to  meet  at  Montgomery,  Alabama. 
Howell  Cobb  and  John  B.  Floyd,  Secretary  of  War,  were  forced 
to  resign;  and  Joseph  Holt  succeeded  the  latter  in  the  War  De- 
partment. I    «! 

When  Lewis  Cass  resigned,  Jeremiah  S.  Black  took  his  place 
as  Secretary  of  State  and  Edwin  M.  Stanton  became  Attorney- 
General  in  Buchanan's  Cabinet.     Philip  F.  Thomas  became  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  taking  the  place  of  Howell  Cobb. 
December  31st: 

The  flag  of  the  United  States  was  taken  down  by  rebels  from 
the  Arsenal  at  Charleston. 

1861. 

January  3rd : 

The  Governor  of  Alabama  seized  the  arsenal  at  Mt.  Vernon, 
and  Forts  Pulaski  and  Jackson  were  taken  by  the  rebels. 


Abraham  Lincoln  57 


January  nth: 

Major  Robert  Anderson  was  called  upon  to  surrender  Fort 
Sumter,  which  he  refused  to  do. 
January  9th : 

Mississippi  seceded. 
January  10th: 

Florida  seceded. 
January  nth: 

Alabama  seceded. 
January  19th : 

Georgia  seceded. 
January  26th : 

Louisiana  seceded. 
January  21st: 

Kansas  admitted  as  a  free  state. 
February  1st: 

Texas  seceded. 

Jefferson  Davis  leaves  the  Senate  after  making  a  speech  giving 
his  views  on  the  Constitution,  which  he  considered  warranted 
the  States  in  seceding  from  the  Union. 
February  9th: 

Jefferson  Davis  chosen  President,  and  Alexander  H.  Stephens 
Vice-President,  of  the  provisional  government  of  the  Confederate 
States  of  America.     Convention  met  at  Montgomery,  and  Davis 
was  inaugurated  February  18th. 
February  19th: 

Russia  frees  all  the  serfs  by  an  imperial  ukase  issued  by  the 
Czar,  Alexander  II.,  which  liberated  45,863,085  individuals.  This 
was  accomplished  without  bloodshed,  under  a  monarchical  govern- 
ment at  a  time  when  nearly  half  of  the  States  of  the  Republic 
took  up  arms  in  order  to  establish,  through  bloodshed  and  re- 
bellion against  the  government,  the  extension  and  permanency 
of  slavery  in  their  boasted  free  country. 
February  4 : 

Delegates  from  the  seceding  states  met  at  Montgomery,  Ala- 
bama, in  a  Constitutional  Convention,  to  organize  a  provisional 
government  for  the  Confederate  States.  On  the  same  day  a  Peace 
Conference  met  at  Washington  at  the  request  of  the  Virginia 
Legislature,  but  accomplished  nothing. 
March  4th : 

President  Abraham  Lincoln  was  duly  inaugurated  President  of 
the  United  States  at  Washington,  where  he  arrived  safely  after  a 
perilous  journey  (a  plot  being  formed  to  assassinate  him)  under 
protection  of  Pinkerton's  detectives. 
March  6th : 

The  Confederate  government  issued  a  call  for  100,000  men; 


58  Abraham  Lincoln 


269  officers  resigned  from  the  Federal  army  and  joined  the  Con- 
federate forces,  as  well  as  many  West  Point  graduates. 

The  Army  of  the  Cumberland  was  established. 
April  nth: 

Jefferson  Davis  demanded  the  surrender  of  Fort  Sumter,  which 
Major  Anderson  again  refused. 
April  12th: 

Jefferson  Davis  issued  a  proclamation  offering  "letters  of 
marque  and  reprisal"  under  the  Confederate  States  on  privateers 
of  all  nations. 

President  Lincoln  issued  a  warning  to  all  those  who  acted  under 
these  letters  of  marque,  that  they  would  be  "held  amenable  to 
the  laws  of  the  United  States  for  the  prevention  and  punishment 


of  piracy." 


Fort  Sumter,  S.  C. 

April  12,  1861,  3 :20  a.  m. 
Sir: 

By  authority  of  Brigadier-General  Beauregard,  command- 
ing the  provisional  forces  of  the  Confederate  States,  we  have  the 
honor  to  notify  you  that  he  will  open  the  fire  of  his  batteries  upon 
Fort  Sumter  in  one  hour  from  this  time. 

We  have  the  honor  to  be, 

Very  respectfully  your  very  obedient  servants, 

James  Chesnut,  Jr., 

Aide-de-camp 

Stephen  D.  LEE, 
Captain,  C.  S.  Army,  Aide-de-camp. 

To  Major  Robert  Anderson, 
U.  S.  Army,  commanding 
Fort  Sumter. 

"At  4:30  a.  m.  the  silence  was  broken  by  the  discharge  of  a 
mortar  from  a  battery  near  Fort  Johnson  within  easy  range  of  the 
work:  a  shell  rose  high  in  the  air  and  broke  directly  over  Fort 
Sumter ;  its  echo  died  away,  and  all  was  still  again,  when  suddenly 
fire  was  opened  from  every  battery  of  the  enemy."  (The  first 
shot  against  the  flag  was  fired  by  Edmund  Ruffin,  of  Virginia.) 

On  the  13th  Major  Anderson  consented  to  evacuate  the  fort 
and  the  garrison  was  transferred  to  the  large  transport  lying  off 
the  bar  and  was  soon  on  its  way  north. 


Abraham  Lincoln  59 


FORT  SUMTER — A  DIARY  ENTRY. 

April  16,  1861,  I  made  the  following  entry  in  my  journal:  "Day 
before  yesterday  came  the  news  of  the  taking  of  Fort  Sumter, 
and  the  capture  of  Major  Robert  Anderson  and  his  men  (this  was 
the  officer  who  twenty-nine  years  before  had  signed  Abraham  Lin- 
coln's release  from  service  in  the  Black  Hawk  War).  The  bom- 
bardment of  Fort  Sumter  by  the  Secessionists  has  awakened  the 
country  from  the  nightmare  of  apprehension  and  indecision  which 
has  long  paralyzed  it.  The  Lion  of  the  North  has  been  fully 
aroused.  Yesterday  came  the  demand  for  troops  by  Lincoln  from 
all  the  states;  he  issued  a  proclamation  calling  for  75,000  men 
for  three  months'  service.  Things  look  fearful  in  every  direc- 
tion concerning  the  future  of  our  country,  and  it  is  only  when  I 
turn  from  the  threatening  storm  and  look  upon  the  delightful 
opening  of  summer,  that  I  am  reminded  of  the  peace  and  harmony 
of  nature,  and  hope  for  a  restoration  of  harmony  among  my 
countrymen.  The  condition  of  the  nation  now  reminds  me  of  the 
turmoil  of  the  Atlantic  in  some  terrific  storm,  several  of  which 
I  have  experienced.  I  am  in  hopes  this  tempest  will  soon  blow 
over  and  leave  the  Union  intact,  and  that  in  the  change  that  will 
come  the  extension  of  slavery  will  be  checked,  or  be  entirely  abol- 
ished in  the  United  States ;  and  also  that  the  banking  system,  or 
lack  of  system,  with  its  present  evils,  will  be  rectified  and  the 
country  be  put  on  a  sound  financial  basis,  and  wild-cat  banks  be 
eliminated." 

"When  I  reflect  upon  the  present  threatened  strife  between  the 
Southern  and  the  Northern  States,  I  shudder  with  apprehension 
for  the  Union,  but  every  one  I  meet  seems  to  have  full  confidence 
in  Lincoln's  ability  to  handle  the  situation.  It  has,  however,  been 
a  time  of  disorder,  and  fear  of  impending  evil  ever  since  I  ar- 
rived in  America  on  my  return  from  my  two  years'  absence  in 
Europe." 

This  assault  upon  a  United  States  fort  by  the  rebels  resounded 
around  the  world  and  fired  the  patriotic  hearts  of  the  loyal  North. 
This  was  a  fatal  blunder  on  the  part  of  the  South. 

CALL  FOR  TROOPS  BY  THE  PRESIDENT  OP  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Whereas,  the  laws  of  the  United  States  have  been  for  some 
time  past,  and  now  are  opposed  and  the  execution  thereof  ob- 
structed in  the  States  of  South  Carolina,  Alabama,  Georgia,  Flor- 
ida, Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and  Texas  by  combinations  too  power- 
ful to  be  suppressed  by  the  ordinary  course  of  judicial  proceeding 
or  by  the  powers  vested  in  the  marshals  by  law. 


60  Abraham  Lincoln 


Now  Therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United 
States,  in  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  led  by  the  Constitution, 
and  the  laws,  have  thought  fit  to  call  forth  and  hereby  do  call 
forth,  the  militia  of  the  several  States  of  the  Union,  to  the  ag- 
gregate number  of  75,000,  in  order  to  suppress  said  combinations 
and  to  cause  the  laws  to  be  duly  executed. 

The  details  of  this  object  will  be  immediately  communicated 
to  the  State  authorities  through  the  War  Department.  I  appeal 
to  all  loyal  citizens  to  favor,  facilitate  and  aid  this  effort  to  main- 
tain the  honor,  the  integrity  and  existence  of  our  National  Union, 
and  the  perpetuity  of  popular  government,  and  to  redress  wrongs 
already  long  enough  endured.  I  deem  it  proper  to  say  that  the 
first  service  assigned  to  the  forces  hereby  called  forth  will  prob- 
ably be  to  repossess  the  forts,  places  and  property  which  have  been 
seized  from  the  Union,  and  in  every  event  the  utmost  care  will 
be  observed  constantly  with  the  object  aforesaid,  to  avoid  any 
devastation,  any  destruction  of,  or  interference  with  property,  or 
any  disturbance  of  peaceful  citizens,  in  any  part  of  the  country; 
and  I  hereby  command  the  persons  composing  the  combinations 
aforesaid  to  disperse  and  retire  peacefully  to  their  respective 
abodes  in  twenty-four  days  from  this  date. 

Deeming  that  the  present  condition  of  public  affairs  presents 
an  extraordinary  occasion,  I  do  hereby,  in  virtue  of  the  power  in 
me  vested  by  the  Constitution,  convene  both  Houses  of  Congress. 
Senators  and  Representatives  are  therefore  summoned  to  assem- 
ble at  their  respective  chambers  at  12  o'clock  noon,  on  Thursday, 
the  4th  day  of  July  next,  then  and  there  to  consider  and  deter- 
mine such  measures  as  in  their  wisdom  the  public  safety  and  in- 
terest may  seem  to  demand. 

In  Witness  Whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused 
the  Seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  15th  day  of  April,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord,  one  thousand,  eight  hundred  and  sixty-one,  and 
of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  the  eighty-fifth. 

Abraham  Lincoln. 

By  the  President, 

William  H.  Seward, 
Secretary  of  State. 

The  actual  writing  of  this  extraordinary  document  was  done 
in  the  few  hours  following  the  arrival  of  the  news  of  the  fall  of 
Fort  Sumter,  but  it  presents  no  marks  of  sudden  or  hasty  work. 
(Stoddard.) 


Abraham  Lincoln  61 


EVENTS  OE  THE  WAR,   CONTINUED. 

April  17th: 

Virginia  secedes  but  the  western  counties  remaining  loyal  and 
afterwards  were  formed  into  a  new  state  called  West  Virginia. 

The  convention  passing  the  ordinance  of  secession  approved 
the  policy  of  the  President. 
April  19th: 

A  rigid  blockade  was  declared  at  all  ports  within  the  states  of 
South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Florida,  Mississippi,  Louis- 
iana and  Texas,  and  on  the  27th  of  April  this  was  extended  to 
the  ports  of  North  Carolina  and  Virginia. 


THE  TWO  PRESIDENTS  AND  THEIR  CABINETS  CONTRASTED. 

Abraham  Lincoln — starting  as  a  poor  boy  born  in  a  log  cabin 
and  without  illustrious  lineage  or  material  advantages,  but  ac- 
complishing great  things  stood  before  the  world  as  the  ideal  of 
American  liberty.  The  forces  arrayed  against  him  were  aimed 
against  this  ideal  and  not  against  his  personality.  Every  shot 
fired  by  those  who  seceded  from  the  republic  and  every  discour- 
agement to  the  Union  from  abroad  was  aimed  at  liberty  and 
against  the  bulwarks  of  a  government  whose  corner  stone  was 
independence. 

Jefferson  Davis  claimed  he  was  fighting  for  independence ;  this 
had  never  been  denied  him,  but  he  denied  it  to  others.  He  posed 
as  the  liberator  of  the  abused  South,  which  had  never  been  de- 
prived of  liberty,  so  far  as  the  white  race  was  concerned,  except 
the  liberty  of  slave  owners  to  extend  slavery  into  the  territories 
or  into  the  free  states. 

Many  of  the  generals  who  were  educated  and  instructed  in  mili- 
tary tactics  by  the  United  States,  instead  of  defending  the  Repub- 
lic, assailed  with  their  battalions  the  capitol  of  their  own  country 
seeking  to  destroy  the  Temple  of  Liberty  and  the  Union  which 
their  forefathers,  in  some  cases  of  revolutionary  times  helped  to 
establish.  Their  fellow  countrymen,  whom  they  were  attacking, 
had  no  desire  to  take  anything  from  them  as  they  finally  were 
forced  to  admit  when  the  war  was  terminated  and  General  Robert 
E.  Lee  surrendered  to  General  Grant  at  Appomattox.  They  were 
granted  most  liberal  terms,  and  Lee  and  his  men  were  allowed 
their  sidearms,  horses  and  personal  effects. 

In  the  great  tragedy  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,  culminating  in 
the  victory  of  the  Unionists  over  the  Confederates,  the  citizens 
of  the  United  States  were  divided  into  two  distinct  and  antago- 


62  Abraham  Lincoln 


nistic  groups;  on  the  one  side  were  the  loyal  Unionists,  Repub- 
licans and  War  Democrats;  on  the  other  side  were  the  disloyal 
Secessionists. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  being  duly  elected  President,  according  to 
the  provision  of  the  Constitution  in  i860,  under  a  strict  construc- 
tion of  the  Constitution  all  the  citizens  of  all  the  states  were 
bound  to  recognize  him  as  the  legitimate  head  of  the  nation. 

William  H.  Seward  was  appointed  Secretary  of  State,  who  as 
senator  had  stood  for  the  Union  in  Washington,  and  had  assisted 
Lincoln  in  every  way  possible  during  all  the  plottings  and  dangers 
which  surrounded  him  before  he  took  the  oath  of  office,  March  4, 
1861. 

Salmon  P.  Chase  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
For  many  years  he  had  been  an  advocate  of  human  liberty,  and 
was  opposed  to  the  extension  of  slavery.  He  was  loyal  to  the 
Union  from  the  first. 

Simon  Cameron  was  appointed  Secretary  of  War,  but  was 
soon  retired  and  sent  as  minister  to  Russia,  being  succeeded  by 
Edwin  M.  Stanton,  who  had  been  the  watch  dog  and  the  con- 
trolling mind  of  the  War  Department  under  Buchanan,  after  John 
B.  Floyd  was  forced  out  of  the  Cabinet  for  disloyalty  and  fraud. 
Here  Stanton  fought  the  Secessionists  whom  he  found  in  office 
in  Washington.  He  proved  himself  to  be  a  loyal  and  courageous 
Secretary  of  War  in  the  Cabinet  during  Lincoln's  administration 
and  until  his  chief  was  assassinated.  He  then  held  the  same  posi- 
tion under  President  Andrew  Johnson. 

Gideon  Wells  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Caleb  B. 
Smith,  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Edward  Bates,  Attorney-Gener- 
al and  Montgomery  Blair,  Postmaster-General.  This  composed 
Lincoln's  Cabinet. 

By  the  selection  of  these  men  the  president  showed  his  wisdom 
and  keen  insight  into  the  character  and  qualifications  of  the  men 
on  whom  he  had  to  depend  for  assistance  in  their  several  depart- 
ments during  the  fearful  crisis  which  had  been  precipitated  upon 
the  country.  Most  of  those  selected  had  been  given  superior  edu- 
cational advantages  in  their  early  years  to  those  given  Mr.  Lincoln, 
and  some  of  these  gentlemen  presumed  at  times  to  be  better  qual- 
ified than  he  was  to  direct  public  affairs ;  yet,  although  Mr.  Lin- 
coln would  listen  to  the  individual  advice  of  the  different  mem- 
bers of  the  Cabinet,  he  finally  acted  with  dignity  and  directness 
and  followed  out  the  course  he  himself  considered  in  his  judg- 
ment to  be  right. 

Jefferson  Davis,  who  was  elected  President  of  the  Southern 
Confederacy,  was  born  January  5,  1808  in  Christian  County,  Ken- 
tucky. He  was  a  cadet  .at  West  Point  from  1824  to  1828,  ap- 
pointed by  President  Monroe,  taking  the  oath  of  loyalty  to  the 


Abraham  Lincoln  63 


United  States,  and  receiving  the  advantages  of  an  education  at 
the  government's  expense  which  enabled  him  to  hold  the  different 
official  positions  which  he  subsequently  occupied.  Robert  E. 
Lee  was  a  classmate  of  his.  Jefferson  Davis  was  a  colonel  in  the 
Mexican  War,  where  he  fought  to  obtain  more  territory  for 
slavery;  he  was  a  lieutenant  of  dragoons  in  the  regular  army. 
In  1844  he  was  elected  to  the  United  States  House  of  Representa- 
tives; for  four  years  he  was  a  representative  from  Mississippi. 
In  185^  he  was  Secretary  of  War  under  President  Pierce.  He 
was  twice  United  States  Senator,  1847-1851  and  1857-1861,  and  at 
one  time  Governor  of  Mississippi. 

He  was  the  leading  spirit  in  the  rebellion,  using  all  the  available 
men,  and  all  the  treasure  possessed  by  the  slave  states  to  an- 
nihilate the  government  of  the  United  States.  He  sought  to 
establish  an  empire  in  the  western  world  in  antagonism  to  the 
principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  with  slavery  as 
its  corner  stone. 

The  cabinet  appointed  by  Jefferson  Davis  was  as  follows :  Rob- 
ert Toombs,  Secretary  of  War,  who  had  formerly  been  a  member 
of  the  Senate  but,  favoring  disunion,  had  been  expelled.  He 
was  a  graduate  of  Union  College,  1828,  and  of  the  Law  University 
of  Virginia,  1830.  His  term  in  the  United  States  Senate  extended 
from  1853  t0  1 86 1.  He  refused  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to 
the  United  States.  After  the  war  he  resumed  the  practice  of 
the  law  and  made  a  fortune  of  $500,000. 

S.  K.  Mallory  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  J.  H. 
Reagan,  Postmaster-General,  and  A.  G.  Benjamin,  Attorney- 
General. 

President  Davis  appointed  Robert  E.  Lee  to  take  command  of 
the  Virginia  troops.  Lee  afterwards  became  the  leading  figure  in 
the  southern  army. 

In  January  1861  a  provisional  government  had  been  organized 
by  the  southern  states  which  passed  the  ordinance  of  secession. 
Jurisdiction  over  public  property  in  the  harbor  of  Charleston  was 
assumed  by  it,  and  Brigadier-General  G.  T.  Beauregard,  who 
had  resigned  his  commission  in  the  regular  army,  was  commis- 
sioned by  the  Confederate  government  to  go  to  Charleston  and 
take  command  of  the  field  of  operations. 

Through  the  complicity  of  England,  for  which  she  was  later 
compelled  to  pay  an  indemnity  of  3,000,000  pounds  to  those  who 
were  damaged  in  the  United  States  by  vessels  built  in  England 
for  the  Southern  Confederacy,  the  rebel  leaders  were  enabled  to 
fit  out  privateers  and  prey  upon  the  merchant  vessels  of  the  United 
States  with  impunity.  Two  of  these  vessels,  the  Alabama  and  the 
Florida,  would  raise  the  English  flag  if  it  would  aid  them  in  their 
villainous  piracy,  capture  prizes  and  then  run  past  the  United 


64  Abraham  Lincoln 


States  vessels  blockading  southern  ports.  The  Lancaster,  com- 
manded by  Captain  Semmes,  did  considerable  damage  until  finally 
it  was  diasabled  by  the  Tuscarora,  the  Chippewa,  and  the  Kear- 
sarge  at  Gibraltar.  Captain  Semmes  sold  his  vessel  and  discharged 
his  men.  The  Florida,  after  it  had  inflicted  an  immense  amount 
of  damage  on  American  shipping  was  at  last  destroyed  by  the 
United  States  sloop  of  war  Wachusett  in  the  port  of  Bahia, 
Brazil.  The  Alabama,  under  charge  of  Captain  Semmes  with  an 
English  crew  and  gunners,  after  driving  many  United  States  mer- 
chant ships  from  the  seas,  and  destroying  many  sailing  vessels, 
and  every  variety  of  shipping,  was  at  last  compelled  to  encounter 
the  United  States  sloop  of  war  Kearsarge,  commanded  by  Cap- 
tain Winslow,  beyond  the  three  mile  limit,  off  Cherbourg,  France, 
and  was  overpowered  and  sunk. 
April  16th: 

Massachusetts  Sixth  Regiment  mustered  upon  Boston  Common, 
equipped  for  action,  and  was  on  its  way  to  Washington  by  the 
17th;  and  on  the  18th  it  reached  Baltimore  and  in  passing  through 
that  city  was  attacked  by  a  mob  of  secession  sympathizers.  The 
self-control  of  the  troops  prevented  casualties  of  any  serious 
nature.  The  regiment  reached  Washington  without  any  further 
interference. 
April  19th: 

The  New  York  Seventh  Regiment  also  reached  Washington. 
April  20th: 

Every  precaution  was  taken  and  every  available  means  was  em- 
ployed to  protect  the  capital  against  the  threatened  attack  from 
the  rebels.  The  rebel  Secretary  of  War  boasted  that  the  Confed- 
erate Bars  would  soon  float  over  the  capitol  itself. 
April  20th : 

Navy  Yard  and  Gosport,  Virginia,  burned. 
April  25th : 

U.  S.  arsenal  at  Harper's  Ferry  burned. 
May  6th : 

Arkansas  secedes. 
May  7th : 

Tennessee  joined  the  Confederacy. 
May  20th : 

North  Carolina  seceded. 
May  13th: 

General  Butler,  with  less  than  1000  men,  entered  Baltimore  at 
night  and  soon  had  the  city  under  command  with  his  guns  in 
position.  The  President  authorized  him  to  suspend  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus. 

Washington  was  soon  placed  in  a  safe  condition  and  the  threat- 


Abraham  Lincoln  65 

ened  siege  raised.     A  guard  was  kept  at  Long  Bridge,  over  the 
Potomac,  to  prevent  its  destruction. 
May  24th : 

The  Union  troops  marched  into  Virginia,  and  strong  earth- 
works were  constructed  upon  the  heights  commanding  the  ap- 
proaches to  Washington  on  the  Virginia  side. 

Events  OF  1862. 

Emperor  Louis  Napoleon  commences  his  strategic  movements 
in  Mexico,  which  he  sought  to  control;  this  was  considered  a 
violation  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  and  it  was  deemed  by  the 
United  States  that  he  was  taking  advantage  under  cover  of  the 
Civil  War,  in  order  to  get  a  foothold  in  Mexico,  as  the  United 
States  was  using  all  its  military  force  in  fighting  the  Southern 
Confederacy.  He  was  cautioned  not  to  interfere  with  the  affairs 
of  Mexico,  but  did  not  withdraw  until  1864. 
January  7th: 

General  Curtis,  under  command  of  General  Halleck,  defeats 
the  Rebels  at  Pea  Ridge,  Arkansas. 

General  Don  Carlos  Buell  supersedes  General  W.  T.   Sher- 
man in  the  Department  of  the  Cumberland. 
February. 

Fort  Henry  is  captured  by  General  U.  S.  Grant,  also  Fort  Don- 
elson,  with  the  aid  of  Rear- Admiral  Andrew  Hall  Foot  with  six 
gun-boats. 

Brig.  General  John  B.  Floyd,  Lieut.  General  Nathaniel  B.  For- 
rest and  General  Gideon  J.  Pillow,  Confederate  generals,  escaped 
before  the  surrender. 
February  16: 

General  Simon  B.  Buckner  surrendered  with  15,000  men. 
April  6  and  7 : 

Gen.  Albert  Sidney  Johnson  who  was  in  command  at  the  battle 
of  Shiloh,  was  killed,  and  the  command  of  the  army  passed  Gen- 
eral G.  T.  Beauregard.    Confederate  loss,  10,700. 

President  Lincoln  early  in  the  war  determined  to  obtain  con- 
trol of  the  Mississippi  in  its  entire  length.  In  pursuance  of  this 
plan,  Island  No.  10  on  the  north  and  Forts  Jackson  and  St.  Philip 
on  the  south  had  been  captured,  and  New  Orleans  occupied 
by  our  troops.  In  the  spring  of  1862,  and  in  the  fall  of  the  year, 
General  McClernand  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  a  river  ex- 
pedition against  Vicksburg.  He  captured  Arkansas  Post  Janu- 
ary nth,  and  camped  near  Vicksburg.  Farragut's  flagship  ac- 
companied by  the  "Hartford"  and  an  ironclad  gun-boat  rapidly 
passed  Port  Hudson.  Later  Porter  passed  Vicksburg.  The  Con- 
federates were  driven  back  from  Fort  Gibson.  MacPherson 
commanded  the  road  to  Vicksburg. 


66  Abraham  Lincoln 

May  7th,  Generals  MacPherson,  McClernand,  and  Sherman 
simultaneously  moved  toward  Richmond  where  the  Confeder- 
ates were  massed.  Grant  assaulted  Vicksburg  on  the  22nd,  los- 
ing 3,000  men.    He  again  decided  a  siege  was  necessary. 

By  June  8th  the  investment  was  complete,  and  30,000  extra 
troops  were  ready  to  repel  attacks  from  the  rear. 

General  Pemberton,  the  Confederate  general,  whose  men  had 
been  in  the  trenches  for  several  weeks,  offered  to  surrender. 

Pemberton  and  Grant  met  and  completed  negotiation  and 
24,000  soldiers  marched  out  of  the  forts  on  the  4th  of  Jui  :  and 
laid  down  their  arms. 

Logan's  division  marched  into  Vicksburg  hoisting  the  United 
States  flag. 

Grant  was  made  Major  General,  Sherman  and  MacPherson 
Brigadiers. 

July  9th,  Port  Hudson  surrendered  to  General  Banks,  with 
6,000  men,  51  pieces  of  artillery,  5,000  small  arms,  and  military 
stores. 

This  opened  the  entire  Mississippi  River  which  had  long  been 
the  earnest  desire  of  President  Lincoln. 

The  election  resulted  in  Lincoln  receiving  180  electoral  votes; 
Breckinridge  72;  Bell  39;  Douglas  12.  Lincoln  received  the  vote 
of  every  free  state  except  New  Jersey,  which  gave  to  Douglas 
all  but  four  votes  which  she  gave  to  Lincoln.  Missouri  gave 
Douglas  9  votes ;  those  of  the  other  southern  states  were  divided 
between  Bell  and  Breckinridge. 

Lincoln,  1,857.610;  Douglas,  1,291,574;  Breckinridge,  850,082; 
Bell,  646,124.     (Greeley's  American  Conflict,  vol.  1,  p.  328.) 

The  election  of  Abraham  Lincoln  was  a  demonstration  that 
the  country  was  opposed  to  slavery.  Up  to  that  time  the  North 
had  been  grossly  deceived  on  the  subject.  The  people  had  all  the 
time  been  betrayed  by  the  politicians ;  they  had  been  unable  to 
make  their  sentiment  known.  The  pro-slavery  vote  was  only 
22.4  per  cent  of  the  total.  Breckinridge  lacked  135,057  of  a 
majority  in  the  slave  states. 

Neither  Mr.  Lincoln,  nor  the  Republican  Party,  thought  of  any 
unlawful  or  over-extreme  measure  against  slavery.  The  fear- 
ful responsibility  of  the  terrible  conflict  must  therefore  be  placed 
with  the  secessionists  says  Mr.  Ingersoll. 

E.  R.  Ulrich,  my  brother,  then  a  lumber  merchant  of  Spring- 
field, together  with  a  number  of  other  business  men,  presented 
Abraham  Lincoln  before  he  left  Springfield  with  a  fine  dress- 
suit  which  he  wore  at  his  first  inaugural. 


Abraham  Lincoln  67 


CHAPTER  VI. 


COL.     ELMER    E)U,SWORTH. HIS    ASSASSINATION. ZOUAVES     HOLD 

LAST  REUNION. 

St.  Louis  Globe-Democrat:  "Yes/5  said  Mr.  Frederick  B. 
Brownell  yesterday,  conversing  with  a  Globe-Democrat  reporter 
at  his  car  factory  on  North  Broadway,  "the  announcement  of  the 
appointment  of  Miss  Amelia  Jackson  the  other  day  to  a  position 
in  the  Patent  Office  at  Washington  recalls  the  tragic  incident  of 
Col.  Elmer  E.  Ellsworth's  death  at  the  hands  of  that  young  lady's 
father  in  the  Marshall  House  at  Alexandria,  Va.,  in  the  early  days 
of  the  War.  A  mistake  has  been  made,  however,  in  attributing 
to  me  the  honor  of  avenging  Col.  Ellsworth's  death.  Jackson,  the 
slayer  of  Col.  Ellsworth,  was  killed  by  my  brother,  Lieut.  Frank 
P.  Brownell,  who  now  lives  at  Detroit.  He  is  on  the  retired  army 
list.    Frank  was  the  eldest  child  of  the  family. 

"But  first  let  me  say  something  of  Col.  Elmer  E.  Ellsworth  and 
his  regiment.  Ellsworth  was  but  little  over  23  years  old  when  he 
met  his  death  at  the  Marshall  House,  in  Alexandria.  He  was 
a  native  of  the  town  of  Mechanicsville,  twelve  miles  from  Troy. 
He  had  nothing  but  a  common-school  education.  When  a  mere 
boy  he  went  to  New  York  City,  where  he  obtained  work  and  la- 
bored hard  in  his  leisure  hours  to  fit  himself  to  enter  West  Point. 
Having  no  influential  friends,  he  failed  to  get  a  cadetship.  After 
about  four  years  in  New  York,  he  went  to  Chicago.  He  was 
then  about  20  years  old.  My  brother  Frank  has  his  diary,  given 
him  by  the  dead  officer's  parents.  The  diary  shows  how  deeply 
the  young  man  was  imbued  with  the  military  spirit.  He  seemed 
to  have  had  a  presentiment  of  the  great  struggle  that  was  soon 
to  convulse  the  Nation.  It  was  during  those  days  that  he  formed 
his  famous  company  of  the  Ellsworth  Zouaves.  My  recollection 
is  that  he  became  connected,  while  in  Chicago,  with  the  Adjutant- 
General's  office  of  Illinois.  His  company  was  composed  of  young 
men  of  his  own  age.  He  inspired  them  with  the  same  love  of 
military  glory  that  burned  in  his  own  breast.  During  the  day  each 
of  the  young  zouaves  worked  at  his  vocation,  for,  like  their 
captain,  they  were  not  rich  in  the  world's  goods.  At  night  they 
drilled  several  hours  in  their  armory,  and  there  they  slept.  This 
was  during  the  time  they  were  preparing  for  their  celebrated  tour 
of  the  Northern  cities.    That  tour  took  place  in  the  stormy  days 


68  Abraham  Lincoln 


of  '6o.  Every  city  the  handsome  Ellsworth  and  his  dashing 
zouaves  visited  was  wrought  up  to  a  frenzy  of  enthusiasm  by  the 
brilliant  evolution  and  marvelous  drill  of  the  company.  I  remem- 
ber when  they  came  to  Troy,  the  whole  town  went  wild  over  them. 
Business  was  suspended,  stores  were  closed,  and  merchants  and 
clerks  repaired  to  the  field  where  they  were  camped,  to  witness 
their  drilling. 

"He  was  a  protege  of  Abraham  Lincoln  before  he  was  elected 
President,  and  the  latter  may  have  helped  the  young  men  with 
written  recommendations  to  those  in  high  places  in  New  York, 
His  talents,  energy,  and  indomitable  will  did  the  rest.  He  raised, 
ecmipped  and  armed  a  regiment  of  nearly  1,200  men  in  New  York 
City  in  a  few  days,  when  other  Colonels  were  weeks  and  months 
in  getting  their  complements  of  men. 

"Washington,  when  Ellsworth's  regiment  arrived,  was  one  vast 
military  babel.  It  was  full  of  undisciplined  men,  camp-followers, 
and  adventurers  of  every  character,  and  depredations  and  acts  of 
outlawry  were  frequent.  The  Ellsworth  Zouaves  were  recruited 
mainly  from  the  fire  boys  of  New  York.  They  were  full  of  spirit, 
wild,  and  rollicksome.  There  had  been  no  time  to  discipline 
them.  Many  of  the  depredations  that  were  committed  in  Wash- 
ington in  the  early  days  of  '61  were  attributed  to  them.  Their 
young  commander  felt  these  aspersions  keenly.  He  went  in  person 
to  President  Lincoln  and  besought  him  to  let  his  command  form 
the  advance  of  the  movement  then  ordered  into  Virginia.  The 
President  refused,  giving  as  his  reason  the  extreme  youth  of  the 
commander  and  the  fear  that  he  would  not  be  able  to  control  the 
wild,  insubordinate  men  under  him  when  they  got  into  hostile  ter- 
ritory. 

"Then  Ellsworth  replied:  'Mr.  President,  if,  on  this  march 
my  men  shall  be  guilty  of  any  act  that  will  reflect  disgrace  on 
them  or  discredit  to  myself,  I  pledge  you  my  word  of  honor  they 
shall  be  mustered  out  of  service  or  merged  into  other  com- 
mands/ 

"Lincoln  granted  Ellsworth's  request  to  let  his  regiment  be  the 
vanguard  of  the  army  of  the  United  States  in  its  first  advance  on 
Richmond.  As  an  incident  of  the  stay  of  the  Ellsworth  Zouaves 
in  Washington  I  will  mention  that  they  were  quartered  in  the  base- 
ment of  the  Capitol.  One  night  Willard's  Hotel  caught  fire.  The 
Zouaves,  who  were  nearly  all  firemen,  rushed  to  the  various  en- 
gine-houses, got  out  the  apparatus,  and  suppressed  the  flames  al- 
most before  the  local  Washington  firemen  were  aware  that  there 
had  been  anything  unusual  going  on. 

"It  was  early  on  the  morning  of  the  24th  of  May,  1861,  when 
the  several  regiments  ordered  into  Virginia  began  their  march. 
The  advance  was  made  in  two  columns,  one  marching  by  the  long 


Abraham  Lincoln  69 


bridge  into  Virginia,  the  other  by  the  chain  bridge  from  George- 
town. No  trumpet  or  soul-stirring  drum  betrayed  their  move- 
ments in  the  darkness.  Down  the  avenue  sounded  the  tread  of 
many  feet.  The  scene  at  the  bridges  must  have  been  impressive 
beyond  description.  The  night  was  cool  and  clear,  with  myriad 
stars,  that  veiled  their  splendor  as  the  moon  rolled  up  the  sky  on 
the  Virginia  side  of  the  Potomac,  flecking  the  river  with  patches 
of  light,  throwing  grotesque  shadows  from  the  towers  and  arches 
of  the  bridges,  and  causing  the  muskets,  sabres,  and  ordnance  to 
glitter  with  reflected  flashes  among  the  compact  masses  of  soldiery 
moving  forward  to  the  ominous  accompaniment  of  clashing  sabres 
and  rumbling  cannon.  The  Ellsworth  Zouaves  went  down  to 
Alexandria  by  steamer.  They  disembarked  in  the  darkness  just 
before  dawn. 

"At  daybreak  Col.  Ellsworth  ordered  a  squad  detained  from 
Company  A  to  proceed  up  into  the  town  of  Alexandria  and  cut 
the  telegraph  wires.  There  were  eight,  all  told,  in  the  party,  in- 
cluding the  Colonel,  the  Chaplain  of  the  regiment,  and  a  news- 
paper correspondent.  They  marched  right  up  the  principal  street 
of  the  town.  Col.  Ellsworth  was  the  first,  perhaps,  to  espy  the 
Rebel  flag  floating  over  the  Marshall  House.  He  said  nothing 
until  the  squad  had  gone  fully  a  block  past  the  hotel.  Then  he 
ordered  the  men  to  right  about  face  and  marched  back  to  the 
house  over  which  the  insulting  emblem  floated.  As  the  soldiers 
entered  the  house  they  encountered  a  man  in  his  shirt-sleeves.  He 
seemed  excited,  more  from  fear  than  anything  else.  Col.  Ells- 
worth demanded:     'Who  hoisted  that  flag?' 

"  'I  don't  know,'  said  the  man ;  'I  am  only  a  boarder  here.' 

"The  soldiers  marched  up  the  stairs.  The  house  was  an  old- 
fashioned  brick,  two  stories  high,  and  with  an  attic  from  which 
dormer  windows  led  out  upon  the  roof.  Col.  Ellsworth  borrowed 
a  knife  from  one  of  the  men  named  Wisner,  mounted  the  roof, 
and  cut  down  the  flag.  Then  the  return  to  the  street  was  begun. 
My  brother,  Frank  E.  Brownell  led  the  way;  Col.  Ellsworth 
followed  with  the  flag  in  his  hand,  and  behind  him  came  the  news- 
paper correspondent. 

"As  my  brother  reached  the  landing  on  the  stairs,  between  the 
second  and  third  stories,  the  same  man  whom  they  had  en- 
countered when  they  entered  the  house  rushed  from  a  room  near 
the  stairway.  He  held  a  double-barreled  shotgun  in  his  hand,  and 
quick  as  a  flash  aimed  it  at  Col.  Ellsworth.  My  brother  was 
armed  with  an  old-fashioned  Springfield  rifle,  with  a  sword  bay- 
onet fixed  on  the  end  of  it.  His  weapon  was  too  long  to  handle 
quickly.  He  stepped  back,  threw  down  his  gun  on  the  assassin, 
and,  as  the  latter  discharged  the  deadly  contents  into  the  breast 
of  Col.   Ellsworth,   shot  him  through  the   center  of  the   face. 


70  Abraham  Lincoln 


Brother  Frank  did  not  know,  in  the  excitement,  whether  he  had 
hit  the  man  or  not,  and,  immediately  after  firing  the  shot  drove 
his  sword  bayonet  through  the  man's  (Jackson's)  body,  pushing 
him  down  the  remaining  section  of  the  stairway.  The  death  of 
both  men  was  instantaneous.  Col.  Ellsworth  fell  forward  on  his 
face,  flooding  the  floor  with  his  blood.  Jackson,  his  assassin,  fell 
at  the  foot  of  the  stairs  on  his  back  as  soon  as  the  bayonet  was 
withdrawn  from  his  body.  Col.  Ellsworth's  remains  were  laid 
out  on  a  bed  in  one  of  the  rooms  of  the  house  in  which  he  was 
murdered.  His  death  did  more  to  enkindle  patriotism  and  swell 
the  volunteer  enlistments  in  the  North  than  any  other  incident. 
I  can  remember  the  words  of  the  telegram  my  brother  sent  home 
on  the  occasion  of  his  killing  Jackson.  The  message  was  short. 
It  read : 

"  'Father.  Col.  Ellsworth  was  shot  dead  this  morning.  I  killed 
his  murderer." 

"Many  have  blamed  Col.  Ellsworth  for  rashness  and  impetuous- 
ness  in  tearing  down  the  Rebel  flag.  My  brother  believes  he  had 
in  mind  his  promise  to  the  President.  He  feared  his  men,  seeing 
the  emblem  of  disloyalty  floating  about  the  Marshall  House,  might 
be  frenzied  into  committing  acts  of  destruction.  He  retraced  his 
steps  with  the  purpose  of  removing  the  aggravating  symbol  of  re- 
bellion. The  gallant  martyr  sleeps  at  Mechanicsville.  His  blood 
stained  uniform,  the  Rebel  flag  he  tore  from  the  Marshall  House, 
and  the  shotgun  of  Jackson  are,  I  think,  inclosed  in  a  glass  case 
in  the  capitol  at  Albany." 

THE  FALL  OF  ELLSWORTH. 

WRITTEN    THE    DAY    AFTER    THE    ASSASSINATION    OF    ELLSWORTH. 

SCENE  I. 

Headquarters  1st  Zouaves, — Camp  Lincoln,  Washington,  May 
28th,  1861. 

Characters — col.    Ellsworth,    mr.    brownELL,    capt.    john 
Wiley,  and  others. 
Ellsworth,  (slowly  pacing  the  room;  in  an  undertone,  his  eyes 

bent  upon  the  floor.) 
My  pen  beneath  the  quivering  light  doth  shine, 
Just  used  to  bid  my  parents  fond  adieus, 
And  needeth  but  my  touch  again  to  form 
Fond  lines  of  comfort  to  her  fearful  heart. 


Note. — No  apology  is  needed  for  inserting:  this  youthful  production.  Every 
piece  of  writing,  diary,  newspaper  or  hand-bill  of  the  time  is  a  source  of  history. 
The  above  lines  were  written  by  the  author  at  the  time  of  the  tragedy  and 
published  in  a  local  paper.  It  was  also  distributed  among  recruits.  I  belonged 
to   a  Springfield   Company   of  Zouaves  before   I   went   to   Europe. 


Abraham  Lincoln  71 


Her, — did  none  hear  me?     Secret  is  our  love. 

My  country,  know'st  thou  what  the  sacrifice 

In  changeless  daring  I  would  make  for  thee? 

The  rent  of  youthful  loving  hearts,  how  keen! 

The  nightly  parting,  fearful  ne'er  again 

Upon  this  battle  raging  earth  to  meet? 

Sacrifice,  said  I !    Ah,  glad  the  death 

Bestowed  for  thee,  thou  banner  in  the  night, 

Besprinkled  o'er  with  stars  that  brilliant  shine 

As  those  that  fill  yon  cloudless  realms  above! 

And  ye  proud  lands,  that  stretch  serene  around, 

In  gentle  slumbers  at  the  midnight  watch 

Death !  Tht  word  did  never  thus  awake  my  thoughts ; 

The  warrior's  gasp,  his  groan,  his  spirit's  flight, 

Ah  whence?    Why  rushes  up  the  tide  of  life 

Days,  deeds,  and  thoughts  oblivious  long. 

And  many  cherished  ties  to  earth  and  life? 

Why  ponders  o'er  those  weeping  friends,  my  mind, 

That  chamber  trod  by  solitary  feet  ? 

Nay,  let  alone  the  pen,  for  thou  wilt  fill 

Her  tender  sympathy  with  thoughtless  pain. 

My  mother,  thou  wilt  soothe  her  early  loss, 

And  she  will  cherish  thee,  remembering  thine. 

Captain  Wilder. 

Well,  Colonel,  why  dost  thou  not  dress  ?  'tis  time — 
Our  boys  are  nearly  all  now  in  the  ranks. 

Ellsworth. 

Why,  my  good  fellow,  you  have  moved  so  still 
I  thought  that  I  was  in  the  room  alone! 
Ah  Captain,  I  was  thinking  of  the  garb 
I  should  prefer  to  robe  me  in  to  die ! 

Captain  Wilder. 

Why,  my  good  fellow,  dost  thou  think  of  death? 

Yon  beauteous  flag  shall  wave  o'er  all  the  land, 

O'er  cities  North,  and  South,  and  East,  and  West, 

And  many  a  traitor  to  his  country's  trust 

Will  by  the  neck  be  hung,  or  thrust  from  thence 

An  exile,  branded  in  the  face  with  shame. 

I  hope,  before  thou  shalt  be  called  to  die. 


72  Abraham  Lincoln 


ELLS  WORTH. 

If  I  tomorrow  must  be  shot,  I'll  die 
In  this  same  suit,  as  yet  unworn  and  new. 
That  then  will  be  my  end,  I  have,  as  'twere 
A  sure  presentiment.    Yes,  my  country  needs 
Immediately  my  blood,  and  it  shall  flow. 

Captain  Wilder. 

Be  not  so  anxious  of  so  great  a  grief, 
Thy  country  needs  thee  and  thy  valiant  arm. 

[Song — "Columbia,  the  Gem  of  the  Ocean,"  heard  in  the  camp. 
Exit  bothJ] 


SCENE  2. 

Alexandria,  5  hours  after  the  preceding. 
Characters — col.  Ellsworth,  rev.  E.  w.  dodge,  brownell,  and 
others.     Body  of  the  regiment  landing  on  the  wharf,  Dayton, 
private,  great  friend  to  Ellsworth. 

Ellsworth. 

First,  Winser,  we  will  seize  the  telegraph, 

Thus  cutting  off  connection  with  the  South. 

I  think,  friend  Dodge,  and  Brownell,  we'll  suffice 

For  carrying  out  this  end.    And  you  there — 

Squad  in  front — just  follow  us  behind. 

This  place  seems  dreaming  yet,  unconscious  all 

The  treading  in  its  midst  of  patriot  troops, 

And  knoweth  not  the  day.     Ha!  there!  ha!  ha! 

A  palmate  floating  in  the  lazy  breeze. 

Down,  down  from  yonder  height,  ye  treacherous  rag, 

Signal  afar  of  traitors  and  their  haunts, 

Long  visible  from  Washington,  and  camps 

Of  those  for  honor  fighting,  and  the  stars. 

Come,  noble  comrades,  haste  your  steps,  and  we 

Will  drag  it  in  the  dust  in  little  time. 

Brownell  and  others. 

Advance — we'll  follow.    Cursed  be  the  flag ! 

[They  near  the  Marshall  House,  over  which  the  secession  flag 
floats.] 


Abraham  Lincoln  73 


Ellsworth. 

Here,  here  it  hangs,  above  this  traitor's  house ; 
And  who  be  ye  then  stranger,  clad  so  spare ; 
What  flag  is  that  which  waveth  o'er  your  head? 
Flee,  flee  its  shelter,  or  'twill  see  your  blood, 
While  dragged  along  the  streets  with  honest  hands ! 

Jackson. 

Naught  but  a  traveler  stopping  for  the  night, 

Ellsworth,  (springing  up  stairs.) 
Comrades,  follow.    [Gains  the  roof.'] 

Winser,  hand  your  knife, 
That  I  may  snap  the  cord  that  doth  sustain 
So  vile  a  sight  before  the  eyes  of  men. 

Winser. 

Here  Elmer. 

Ellsworth.     [Cuts  the  rope  and  takes  the  flagJ] 

Never  more  unconscious  wind 
Wilt  thou  assist  the  waving  of  these  stripes, 
That  did  pollute  thee  with  its  nervous  flap, 
And  dimmed  as  some  dark  cloud  our  country's  sky. 

[Folding  the  flag,  Ellsworth  follows  Brownell  down  stairs,  and 
the  rest  follow.  At  the  landing  Jackson  springs  forward  and 
shoots  Ellsworth.] 

Brownell  and  others. — Vile  assassin 
Ellsworth. — My  God !    [Falls. ] 

Brownell,  (shoots  Jackson.) 

Die!  traitor!  die!  (Thrusts  him.) 
With  that,  and  that,  and  that,  for  thy  foul  deed. 
See,  comrades;  weltering  in  his  blood,  the  youth! 
Be  thou  a  guard,  and  I  shall  quickly  load ; 
We  know  not  who  doth  lurk  about  us  here. 

Winser. 

Poor  Elmer !  beauteous,  e'en  in  death,  thy  face, 
And  mingled  with  thy  blood,  yet  warm,  thy  locks 
Do  gather  round  thy  temples  dark  and  rich. 
Sweet  youth !  how  sudden  was  this  call  for  thee ! 
How  innocent  the  smile,  that  lingering,  throws 
Such  godlike  beauty  o'er  thy  soulless  form ! 


74  Abraham  Lincoln 


Rev.  E.  W.  Dodge. 

My  comrades,  let  us  lift  him  from  this  spot 
See  how  his  blood  has  purged  this  crouching  flag 
From  all  the  treason  it  proclaimed  to  earth  ; 
Would  like  a  ransom  innocently  slain, 
As  Christ  for  sin,  he  for  this  land  could  be, 
And  those  who  wrongly  war,  should  see  the  right, 
And  loathe  to  shed  such  nobly  flowing  blood, 
Or  blood  of  their  own  youth,  who  causeless  fight, 
Ne'er  injured  by  the  hands  they  strive  against ! 

[The  regiment  comes  near.  Roll  of  the  drum  heard.  They  hear 
of  the  fall  of  their  leader  and  gaining  the  house  crowd  to  see  him. 
Weeping  heard  among  the  Zouaves.] 

Dayton. 

Hung  be  the  heaven's  with  black,  turn  day  to  night, 

Weep  ocean,  briny  tears,  and  scatter  earth 

Ye  falling  dews,  with  sorrowing  drops, 

Dimmed  let  the  moon  appear,  and  wait  ye  stars, 

To  see  him  lowered  'neath  the  crying  earth ; 

And  Freedom's  daughters,  ponder  o'er  the  loss; 

And  youthful  heirs  of  liberty  attend, 

And  buckling  on  your  swords,  avenge  the  deed; 

Ye  old  men,  cherish  now  your  sons  the  more, 

And  mothers,  teach  your  sons  of  lasting  life; 

Think,  nations  all,  the  gloomy  ways  of  war, 

In  maddened  rage  bleed  not  your  youths  with  steel ; 

Draped  be  the  chair  of  state  with  mournful  black, 

Droop  flag  of  Truth,  and  shield  the*  slumbering  dead. 

FOUR    CHICAGO    ZOUAVES    HOLD    THEIR   LAST    REUNION. 

The  Chicago  Zouaves  never  will  muster  again.  Four  strong,  they 
held  their  last  reunion  in  the  lobby  of  the  Grand  Pacific  hotel.  In 
1 86 1  the  Ellsworth  Zouaves  went  to  the  front  as  the  best  drilled 
company  in  the  west.    With  them  went  the  Lincoln  Wide  Awakes. 

There  was  one  member  of  the  latter  company  present.  He 
drew  his  chair  up  to  the  group  of  white-haired  men  and  the  busi- 
ness of  the  reunion  was  commenced  forthwith.  Civil  war  stories 
were  told,  the  death  of  E.  E.  Ellsworth,  who  was  shot  while 
climbing  the  roof  of  a  house  at  Alexandria,  Va.,  to  pull  down  the 
confederate  flag  and  similar  anecdotes  were  recalled. 

Those  present  were,  Truman  D.  Cleveland,  Maj.  Frank  E 
Yates,  board  of  trade;  E.  Hamilton  Hunt,  Dr.  Charles  E.  Speer. 
The  Wide  Awake  was  J.  B.  Ferrus. 


Abraham  Lincoln  75 


AN   INFORMAL   RECEPTION   TO   COI,.   LAFUN. 

An  informal  reception  was  tendered  last  evening  at  the  Palmer 
to  Col.  H.  Dwight  Laflin,  of  Saugerties,  N.  Y.,  the  only  surviving 
commissioned  officer  of  the  United  States  Zouave  Cadets,  by  the 
surviving  members  of  that  organization  residing  in  Chicago.  This 
was  the  company  organized  by  Col.  Ellsworth  in  the  spring  of 
1857  and  which  was  disbanded  at  the  outbreak  of  the  War,  most 
of  the  members  becoming  officers  in  the  Ellsworth  Zouaves. 
There  are  forty-two  survivors  of  the  original  company  living,  of 
whom  twenty-two  reside  in  Chicago  and  vicinity.  The  entertain- 
ment was  commenced  by  serenading  Col.  Laflin  with  Nevin's 
band,  after  which  all  repaired  to  Parlor  N  and  serenaded  Gen. 
Sheridan,  who  came  out  in  the  hallway  and  acknowledged  the 
compliment  by  shaking  hands  all  round  and  chatting  with  them 
for  some  minutes.  An  adjournment  was  then  had  to  the  club- 
room,  where  supper  was  served.  Col.  Laflin  acknowledged  the 
courtesy  extended  to  him  by  a  few  well-chosen  remarks.  He 
gave  a  brief  sketch  of  the  early  history  of  the  company,  with  a 
mention  of  the  celebrated  forty-five  day  trip,  and  appropriate  al- 
lusions to  the  lamented  Ellsworth. 

The  following  members  were  present:  Edwin  L.  Brand,  H. 
Dwight  Laflin,  John  R.  Floyd,  Freeman  Conner,  Clifton  T.  Whar- 
ton, George  H.  Fergus,  Charles  C.  Phillips,  William  M.  Olcott, 
Samuel  S.  Boone,  Frank  E.  Yates,  Bennet  E.  Botsford,  James  A. 
Clybourn,  Harrison  Kelley,  Edward  B.  Knox,  and  W.  M.  Nevins. 

POEM   WRITTEN   AT   COMMENCEMENT  OF   CIVIL   WAR. — 
A.  D.   AUG.    19,    1862. 

How  changed  the  scene,  in  this  my  native  land, 

From  what  it  was,  when  sailing  from  its  strand; 

To  seek  in  distant  climes  for  ancient  lore, 

'Tis  nought  but  turmoil,  fire,  and  vengeful  war. 

Some  rend  our  flag,  our  Constitution  scorn, 

And  forge  the  chains  for  thousands  yet  unborn. 

Our  sacred  laws,  they  trample  'neath  their  feet, 

And  slay  our  patriots,  in  the  battle's  heat  ; 

O  direful  day!  O  mournful  sight  to  view, 

A  field  o'erstrewn  with  blood  like  crimson  dew ; 

A  mighty  nation    rending  self  in  twain, 

Where  strife  seems  useless,  and  where  war  seems  vain. 

Hear,  gracious  God  the  prayer  I  breathe  to  Thee ! 

Stay  Thou  the  conflict,  dry  the  bloody  sea, 

Let  sounds  of  clashing  arms,  be  heard  no  more, 

And  peace,  triumphant,  reign  from  shore  to  shore. 


76  Abraham  Lincoln 


Let  one  proud  banner  float  upon  the  breeze 

From  Southern  gulf  to  glittering  Northern  seas. 

Great  God  make  Thou  our  people  truly  one, 

And  let  them  strive  for  Unity  alone; 

Hush  the  mad  ocean,  stay  the  thunder  clouds, 

And  save  our  people  from  these  bloody  shrouds ; 

Restore  the  Nation's  mind  to  peace  and  rest, 

And  calm  the  turmoil  that  now  stirs  its  breast ; 

Our  rescued  ship  guide  safely  in  her  path ; 

With  Heaven  serene,  and  ocean  void  of  wrath. 

Record  my  prayer,  O,  heavenly  host  above ! 

And  for  revenge  and  hatred,  teach  us  love. 

'Tis  but  a  day  since  I  a  mournful  ode, 

Sang  o'er  a  youth,  who  once  afar  abode, 

In  distant  climes,  where  joy  did  fill  his  days, 

And  hope  beamed  'round  him  with  her  glittering  rays. 

He  too,  is  gone,  the  young,  the  gallant,  brave, 

Gone  to  a  heaven  of  rest,  laid  in  a  hero's  grave, 

The  cannon's  roar  no  more  will  wake  his  rest, 

Nor  patriot  fires  bestir  his  manly  breast. 

Alone  he  sleepeth  in  his  warrior's  robes 

The  passing  wind  a  requiem  o'er  him  blows. 

Still  is  the  night,  the  bustling  hosts  are  gone, 

And  quiet  reigns  triumphant,  here  alone ; 

Fond  Memory  in  her  spotless  robes  beclad, 

Seats  her  before  me,  with  a  visage  sad  ; 

And  whispers  not  her  usual  notes  of  love, 

But  chants  an  ode  o'er  him  now  risen  above; 

She  counts  his  virtues,  marks  his  gifted  mind, 

Shows  how  he  honored  God,  and  served  mankind ; 

And  tells  how,  like  a  free  born  soul  he  moved, 

As  well  abroad,  as  in  the  land  he  loved. 

But  he  is  gone,  who,  with  a  master  hand, 

Led  bravely  on  his  valiant  Northern  band, 

Led  on  to  conquer,  or  in  blood  to  die; 

Disdaining  e'er  to  turn,  disdained  to  fly ! 

Ah !  yes,  he's  gone,  his  spirit's  upward  flight 

Stopped  not  till  entering  heaven  celestial  light ; 

Stopped  not  till  seated,  'mong  that  honored  band, 

Who  fought  on  Earth  to  save  their  native  land. x 

Why  this  great  change,  these  dark  rebellious  clouds, 

The  gloom  of  war  our  country  now  enshrouds? 

Where  is  the  peaceful  land  I  left  behind? 

I  walk  its  streets,  its  joy  I  cannot  find. 

1  This   refers    to    Major    Frederik    W.    Matteson,    son    of   former    Governor    Mat- 
teson,   whom  I  met   in   Heidelberg. 


Abraham  Lincoln  77 


The  wonted  gay  and  happy  scenes  of  yore, 

Have  changed  to  strife  and  fratricidal  war ! 

Hast  thou,  wide  wand'rer  reached  thy  home  again, 

And  dost  thou  view  its  ruffled  state  with  pain? 

Be  not  dismayed,  the  future  bright  doth  gleam, 

From  out  this  gloom  fair  freedom's  star  shall  beam. 

In  ten  years'  time,  thus,  can'st  thou  truly  say, 

When  looking  back  upon  this  stormy  day : — 

Heard,  gracious  God,  the  prayer  I  breathed  to  thee ; 

Stayed  is  the  conflict,  dried  the  bloody  sea; 

While  sounds  of  clashing  arms  are  heard  no  more, 

And  peace,  triumphant,  reigns  from  shore  to  shore. 

While  one  proud  banner  floats  upon  the  breeze, 

From  Southern  gulf  to  glittering  Northern  Seas. 

Great  God !  Thou'st  made  our  people  truly  one, 

And  they  strive  now  for  Unity  alone. 

Hushed  the  mad  ocean,  stayed  the  thunder  clouds, 

And  saved  our  people,  from  those  bloody  shrouds ; 

Restored  the  nation's  mind  to  peace,  and  rest, 

And  calmed  the  turmoil  that  once  stirred  its  breast 

Our  rescued  ship  floats  safely  in  her  path, 

With  heaven's  serene,  and  ocean,  void  of  wrath. 

Answered  my  prayer,  O,  heavenly  host  above, 

And  for  revenge,  and  hatred,  we'er  taught  love. 

Exalted  virtues,  with  the  help  of  God, 

Far  from  those  lands,  where  rules  a  regal  rod, 

Laid  deep  foundations  for  a  future  state, 

Where  Freedom  rules,  instead  of  monarch's  great. 

The  new-found  world,  became  the  favored  land, 

And  to  its  newfound  shores,  the  pilgrim  band 

Came  fleeing  persecution,  o'er  the  main, 

To  find  a  home,  where  they  could  rear  their  fane, 

And  worship,  unconstrained,  as  conscience  taught, 

The  God  Omnipotent,  whose  praise  they  sought ! 

The  Mayflower  brought  them  to  this  western  worU, 

Where  they,  the  banner  of  their  Lord,  unfurled. 

Time  fled,  and  varied  peoples  filled  the  land, 

Who  formed  small  colonies,  these  by  the  hand 

Of  the  Creator,  o'er  the  sea  were  brought, 

And  from  them,  God,  a  mighty  nation  wrought, 

That  shook  from  off  its  limbs  all  tyrants'  chains, 

And  reared  a  government,  where  Freedom  reigns. 

And  when  the  Nation  issued  from  the  strife 

Victorious,  and  free,  with  hopeful  life, 

It  grasped  all  means  to  hold  the  treasure  bought 

With  precious  blood,  and  noble  men,  and  sought 


78  Abraham  Lincoln 


Brave  George,  to  give  him  Presidential  power, 

Then  Washington  made  haughty  monarchs  cower. 

Think  not,  that  God  will  this  fair  Land  forsake, 

Now  in  its  prime ;  His  arm  will  soon  o'ertake 

Its  enemies,  and  baffle  all  their  aims, 

Raise  the  poor  slave,  and  shatter  all  his  chains. 

The  glory  of  our  country's  father,  cast 

A  halo  o'er  the  infant  child,  to  last 

For  ages,  if  the  kchild  withholds  to  mar 

It's  brightness,  beaming  forth  from  Freedom's  star. 


Abraham  Lincoln  79 


CHAPTER  VII. 


UNC0I,N  S  INTUITION. 


"Labor  to  keep  alive  in  your  breast  that  little  spark  of  celestial 
fire  called  conscience." — George  Washington. 

Abraham  Lincoln  knew  intuitively  the  right  or  wrong  of  great 
social  problems  and  acted  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  con- 
science. He  drew  inspiration  from  within  and  decided  what  to 
do  in  emergencies  not  so  much  from  acquired  wisdom  as  by  in- 
tuition. Where  other  men  resorted  to  classic  lore  and  worldly 
scholastic  learning,  gained  from  the  college  or  university,  Lin- 
coln communed  with  himself  and  ultimately  discovered  a  rule 
of  action  and  a  light  to  guide  him  through  the  perilous  laby- 
rinth of  human  affairs  when  besieged  by  conflicting  opinions 
and  surrounded  by  enemies  on  every  side.  His  quick  application 
of  some  story  to  illustrate  his  position,  served  to  prove  this  habit 
of  resorting  to  intuitive  promptings  to  do  certain  things  or  re- 
fuse to  act  on  the  advice  of  others  when  such  advice  did  not 
coincide  with  his  own  judgment. 

In  his  debates  and  speeches,  it  was  not  so  much  the  letter  of 
the  Federal  Constitution  and  legislative  acts  or  glittering  gener- 
alities which  directed  him  as  the  spirit  of  justice  that  sprang  spon- 
taneously from  within. 

Douglas  said  "He  did  not  care  whether  slavery  was  voted  up 
or  voted  down.  This  Lincoln  could  not  understand,  for  if 
slavery  was  wrong,  according  to  his  intuitive  promptings,  it  should 
emphatically  be  voted  down.  This  to  him  was  the  only  course  to 
pursue.    It  was  axiomatic. 

His  intuition  to  do  what  was  right  and  his  determination  to 
carry  out  his  conclusions  was  marvelous  and  showed  the  inborn 
superiority  of  his  magnanimous  and  exalted  character.  He  was 
willing  to  risk  his  own  life  to  achieve  what  he  had  made  up  his 
mind  was  the  right  course  to  pursue.  It  was  this  that  won  the 
hearts  of  the  people  everywhere  and  prompted  him  to  do  many 
merciful  and  benevolent  acts  against  widespread  opposition,  and 
when  he  was  possessed  of  almost  autocratic  power.  It  was  this 
that  enabled  him  finally  to  bring  about  the  liberation  of  the  slaves 
and  to  sign  the  great  charter  of  emancipation. 


80  Abraham  Lincoln 


By  comparing  the  sayings  of  Abraham  Lincoln  with  those 
wordly  wise  sayings  of  great  diplomats  like  Talleyrand  or  Vol- 
taire, or  a  great  judge  like  Chief  Justice  Roger  B.  Taney,  it 
will  be  easily  understood  how  he  differed  from  them  for  the 
better  on  a  question  of  right  or  wrong. 

Talleyrand  said,  "Speech  was  given  for  man  to  disguise  his 
thoughts." 

"Society  is  divided  into  two  classes :  The  shearers  and  the 
shorn.    We  should  always  be  with  the  former  against  the  latter." 

Voltaire  said,  "They  only  employ  words  to  disguise  their 
thoughts.    Clever  tyrants  are  never  punished." 

Chief  Justice  Taney  said,  in  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  "The 
Constitution  recognizes  no  difference  between  such  property 
(meaning  slaves),  and  any  other  property." 

This  is  not  the  spirit  of  the  United  States  Constitution  nor  did 
it  agree  with  Abraham  Lincoln's  opinion,  or  the  course  he  pur- 
sued when  chief  executive  of  the  Nation. 

Lincoln  said,  "In  giving  freedom  to  the  slave,  we  assure  free- 
dom to  the  free — honorable  alike  in  what  we  give  and  what  we 
preserve." 

"Let  us  have  faith  that  right  makes  might,  and  in  that  faith  let 
us  to  the  end  dare  to  do  our  duty  as  we  understand  it." 

"I  take  the  official  oath  today  with  no  mental  reservation  and 
with  no  purpose  to  construe  the  constitution  by  any  hypercritical 
rule." 

"I  intend  no  modification  of  my  oft  expressed  wish  that  all 
men  everywhere  should  be  free." 

"With  malice  towards  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with  firmness 
in  the  right,  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right." 

Lincoln  was  working  quietly  and  rapidly  without  unnecessary 
publicity  to  meet  the  threatened  attacks  of  the  Confederacy,  but 
he  acted  at  all  times  with  due  regard  to  legal  technicalities  and 
did  not  take  the  initiative  at  any  time  in  commencing  hostilities. 
This  was  the  wisest  course  to  pursue. 

In  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  army  and  navy,  and 
meeting  the  requirements  of  every  day  in  the  struggle  to  main- 
tain the  government  intact  the  President  assumed  and  freely 
used  from  time  to  time,  all  powers  required  by  any  emergency 
as  being  conferred  upon  him  by  the  emergency.  If  these  powers 
were  also  conferred  upon  him  by  the  Constitution  and  the  laws, 
as  previously  interpreted  so  much  the  better  for  those  instruments, 
and  for  their  previous  interpretation.  If  not,  it  would  answer 
equally  as  well  if  Congress  afterward  should  pass  laws  covering 
the  matters  involved,  and  if  the  Constitution  should  be  duly 
amended  at  the  defective  spot,  as  discovered.    Such  is  the  funda- 


Abraham  Lincoln  81 


mental  law  of  all  human  societies  in  all  revolutionary  states  and 
conditions. 

"Lincoln  absorbed  in  and  united  with  his  own  action  as  Dic- 
tator and  President,  the  previous  action  of  the  legislative  branches 
of  government.  Members  of  Congress  were  unable  to  say  to 
each  other,  the  Commander-in-chief  has  issued  a  general  order 
embodying  and  enforcing  our  legislation.  The  general  order  con- 
tained and  embraced  such  amplifications  as  rendered  a  dictatorial 
proclamation  forever  independent  of  legislative  act."  (Stoddard 
History. ) 

To  obtain  a  clear  impression  of  Abraham  Lincoln's  character, 
it  is  necessary  to  read  and  study  his  letters  and  speeches.  These 
can  be  found  in  a  book  entitled  "Speeches  and  Letters  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  1832-1865",  published  by  J.  W.  Dent  and  Company, 
London,  and  E.  P.  Dutton  &  Company,  New  York.  This  book 
was  given  as  a  souvenir  to  those  who  attended  the  Centennial  An- 
niversary of  Lincoln's  birthday  at  Springfield  in  1909,  which  I 
attended.  Speeches  on  Lincoln  were  delivered  there  by  the 
Risrht  Honorable  James  Bryce,  Ambassador  Extraordinary  and 
Minister  Plenipotentiary  from  Great  Britain;  Hon.  J.  J.  Jusse- 
rand,  Ambassador  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary 
from  the  French  Republic;  Hon.  Jonathan  B.  Dolliver,  United 
States  senator  from  Iowa,  and  William  Jennings  Bryan. 

Nicolay  and  Hay,  in  their  "Abraham  Lincoln,  a  History,"  not 
only  give  extracts  from  many  of  Lincoln's  speeches  and  papers, 
but  conscientiously  and  graphically  relate  the  thrilling  incidents 
of  those  doubtful  and  anxious  days  during  the  Civil  War  when  a 
great  crisis  was  forced  upon  a  nation  entirely  unprepared  for  the 
sudden  assault  made  by  a  powerful  and  treasonable  organized 
force  within  its  territory  which  threatened  its  destruction.  They 
both  went  with  him  from  Springfield  and  were  with  him  from 
first  to  last  as  private  secretaries,  and  they  personally  were 
acquainted  with  many  of  those  who  were  prominent  in  that  ter- 
rible conflict.  All  the  archives  of  the  government  during  Lin- 
coln's administration,  as  well  as  his  private  letters,  were  open 
to  their  inspection  when  compiling  their  graphic  account  of  the 
life  of  Lincoln  and  the  Civil  War.  They  both  were  young  men  of 
high  social  and  intellectual  standing,  and  few  historians  who 
would  have  undertaken  to  write  the  life  of  Lincoln  possessed 
better  facilities,  or  were  better  qualified  than  they  to  do  justice 
to  the  subject.  I  am  confident  that  neither  of  them  was  influ- 
enced by  prejudice  or  partiality  in  their  account  of  the  tragic 
events  that  occurred.  I  often  met  both  these  gentlemen  when 
living  in  Springfield,  and  knew  Mr.  Hay  intimately  before  he 
became  Secretary  to  Lincoln.  The  last  time  I  met  him  was  in 
Rome  in  1894,  at  the  Hotel  Quirinal.     I  remember  we  had  a 


82  Abraham  Lincoln 


long  talk  about  municipal  government,  on  which  subject  I  was 
then  writing. 

Any  one  who  will  take  time  to  read  Lincoln's  speeches,  letters, 
and  messages  to  Congress,  and  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipa- 
tion, will  find  in  them  remarkable  uniformity,  cool  deliberation, 
and  a  progressive  movement  of  thought  and  purpose.  There  is 
no  contradiction  nor  subterfuge,  but  a  firm  determination  to  carry 
out  a  well-defined  purpose  from  the  first  time  he  gave  utterance  in 
Illinois  to  his  views  on  slavery,  the  Constitution  and  the  Union, 
until  the  final  premature  and  tragic  ending  of  his  active  and 
useful  career.  In  order  to  give  an  insight  into  Lincoln's  charac- 
ter, and  to  show  his  humane  as  well  as  farseeing  and  intelligent 
methods,  a  number  of  his  letters,  proclamation,  and  speeches  are 
given  herewith. 

Lincoln's  farewell  address  at  Springfield,  February  ii,  1861 . 

"My  friends ;  no  one,  not  in  my  situation,  can  appreciate  my 
feelings  of  sadness  at  this  parting.  To  this  place  and  the  kind- 
ness of  these  people,  I  owe  everything.  Here  I  have  lived  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  and  have  passed  from  a  young  to  an  old 
man.  Here  my  children  have  been  born,  and  one  is  buried.  I 
now  leave,  not  knowing  when  or  whether,  I  may  ever  return, 
with  a  task  before  me  greater  than  that  which  rested  upon  Wash- 
ington. Without  the  assistance  of  that  Divine  Being  who  ever 
attended  him  T  cannot  succeed.  With  that  assistance  I  cannot  fail. 
Trusting  in  Him,  who  can  go  with  me,  and  remain  with  you,  and 
be  everywhere  for  good,  let  us  confidently  hope  that  all  will  be 
well.  To  His  care  commending  you,  as  I  hope  in  your  prayers 
you  will  commend  me,  I  bid  you  an  affectionate  farewell." 

This  address,  in  view  of  subsequent  events,  is  pathetic  and 
touching.  It  even  looks  as  if  Mr.  Lincoln  had  a  presentiment  of 
his  tragic  death. 

Lincoln's  first  message  to  congress,  july  4, 1861. 

Congress  assembled  July  4th,  1861  and  President  Lincoln  de- 
livered his  first  message. 

He  said,  "It  is  thus  seen  that  the  assault  upon  and  reduction 
of  Fort  Sumter  was  in  no  sense  a  matter  of  self-defense  on  the 
part  of  the  assailants.  They  well  knew  that  the  garrison  in  the 
fort  could  by  no  possibility  commit  aggression  upon  them.  They 
knew — they  were  expressly  notified — that  the  giving  of  bread  to 
the  few  brave  and  hungry  men  of  the  garrison  was  all  which 


Abraham  Lincoln  83 


would  on  that  occasion  be  attempted,  unless  themselves,  by  re- 
sisting so  much,  should  provoke  more.  They  knew  that  this 
government  desired  to  keep  the  garrison  in  the  fort,  not  to 
assail  them,  but  merely  to  maintain  visible  possession,  and  thus 
to  preserve  the  Union  from  actual  and  immediate  dissolution, 
trusting,  as  hereinbefore  stated,  to  time,  discussion,  and  the 
ballot-box,  for  final  adjustment;  and  they  assailed  and  reduced 
the  fort  for  precisely  the  reverse  object, — to  drive  out  the 
visible  authority  of  the  Federal  Union,  and  thus  force  it  to 
immediate  dissolution.     *     *     * 

That  this  was  their  object  the  Executive  well  understood ;  and 
having  said  to  them  in  the  inaugural  address,  "You  can  have  no 
conflict  without  being  yourselves  the  aggressors",  he  took  pains 
not  only  to  keep  this  declaration  good,  but  also  to  keep  the  case 
so  free  from  the  power  of  ingenious  sophistry  that  the  world 
should  not  be  able  to  misunderstand  it.    *    *    * 

"By  the  affair  at  Fort  Sumter,  with  its  surrounding  circum- 
stances, that  point  was  reached.  Then  and  thereby  the  assail- 
ants of  the  government  began  the  conflict  of  arms,  without 
a  p-un  in  sight,  or  in  expectancy  to  return  their  fire,  save  only  the 
few  in  the  fort  sent  to  that  harbour  years  before  for  their  own 
protection,  and  still  ready  to  give  that  protection  in  whatever  was 
lawful.  In  this  act,  discarding  all  else,  they  have  forced  upon 
the  country  the  distinct  issue,  'immediate  dissolution  or  blood/  " 

"And  this  issue  embraces  more  than  the  fate  of  the  United 
States.  It  presents  to  the  whole  family  of  man  the  question 
whether  a  constitutional  republic  or  democracy — a  government 
of  the  people  by  the  same  people — can  or  cannot  maintain  its 
territorial  integrity  against  its  own  domestice  foes.  It  presents  the 
question  whether  discontented  individuals,  too  few  in  number  to 
control  administration,  according  to  organic  law,  in  any  case,  can 
always,  upon  the  pretences  made  in  this  case,  or  any  other  pre- 
tences, or  arbitrarily  without  any  pretence,  break  up  their  govern- 
ment, and  thus  practically  put  an  end  to  free  government  upon 
the  earth.  It  forces  us  to  ask:  'Is  there,  in  all  republics,  this 
inherent  and  fatal  weakness  ?'  'Must  a  government,  of  necessity, 
be  too  strong  for  the  liberties  of  its  own  people,  or  too  weak  to 
maintain  its  own  existence  ?' " 


NEED   OF   PREPAREDNESS. 

This  precedent  enunciated  and  enforced  by  Abraham  Lincoln, 
should  now  be  regarded  as  a  fundamental  principle  of  our  govern- 
ment for  all  time,  and  if  necessary,  adhered  to  in  any  future, 
similar   emergency.     The  character  of   a  government,   whether 


84  Abraham  Lincoln 


democratic  or  monarchical,  should  not  interfere  with  its  effective- 
ness and  power.  A  republic  should  enforce  authority  and 
obedience  equally  as  vigorously  as  a  monarchy. 

Lincoln  showed  his  wisdom  and  capacity  to  rule  in  the  great 
crisis  when  the  states  revolted  against  the  government,  in  stand- 
ing firm  against  all  opposition  from  without  and  from  within, 
and  enforcing  the  supreme  law  of  the  land,  which  was  embodied 
in  the  constitution. 

The  need  of  some  provision  in  the  United  States  for  an  army 
in  case  of  emergency  was  seriously  manifested  during  the  crisis 
of  the  civil  war.  If  a  large  standing  army  could  not  be  main- 
tained, this  country  should  follow  the  example  of  Switzerland, 
and  drill  all  able  bodied  men  so  that  they  could  be  called  upon  to 
defend  the  nation,  if  required.  All  students  in  public  schools 
and  colleges  should  be  thoroughly  trained  in  military  tactics,  and 
perhaps  put  into  actual  service  for  a  time,  so  as  to  fit  them  for 
duties,  if  necessary.  Had  the  United  States  followed  this  system 
previous  to  1861,  it  would  have  been  better  prepared  to  meet  the 
forces  that  were  arrayed  against  the  Union. 

A  powerful  navy  should  be  maintained  in  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific,  and  naval  academies  should  be  established  under  central 
government  control  on  the  western  and  eastern  coasts  of  the 
United  States.  Submarines  and  aeroplanes,  etc.,  should  be 
built  and  ammunition  bountifully  supplied  so  as  to  be  always 
prepared  for  contingencies. 

When  first  threatened  by  the  southern  rebels,  Lincoln  called 
for  75,000  men,  though  he  had  not,  under  the  Constitution,  the 
right  to  do  so;  but  congress,  as  soon  as  it  met,  immediately  rati- 
fied this  act.  Later  he  was  voted  $500,000,000  for  carrying  on 
the  war,  and  authorized  to  raise  an  army  of  500,000  men.  He 
was  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy  as  well  as  being 
President  of  the  United  States.  O.  N.  Stoddard,  one  of  his 
historians,  and  also  one  of  his  secretaries,  said,  "He  was,  for  the 
time  being,  an  absolute  dictator,  and  was  not  in  any  way  under 
the  control  of  any  other  power  in  the  government.  He  was  a 
sort  of  revolutionary  dictator.  He  was  ready  and  willing  to  use 
all  power  given  to  him  by  an  unwritten  commission,  to  see  to  it 
that  the  commonwealth  suffered  no  harm  from  its  enemies.  He 
was  president  of  the  entire  country — South  as  well  as  North. 
The  power  to  set  aside  written  law  was  inherent  in  the  dictator- 
ship, but  could  come  even  to  the  dictator  only  from  the  hands 
of  necessity  and  to  the  safety  of  the  commonwealth." 

The  great  majority  of  its  members  were  willing  that  the  Presi- 
dent assume  the  power  of  dictator,  while  the  republic  was  strug- 
gling for  life.    This  he  practically  did,  and  congress  was  willing 


Abraham  Lincoln  85 


to  place  in  his  hands  all  the  dictatorial  powers  that  it  was  possible 
to  give  him. 

But  with  all  this  power  given  to  him,  he  was  no  tyrant  in  any 
respect,  and  he  used  it  only  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 
Even  the  enemies  of  his  country  when  captured,  were  treated 
humanely,  unlike  those  imprisoned  by  the  slaveholders  of  the 
South,  who  had  been  educated  in  a  school  of  oppression  and  slav- 
ery. 

To  meet  and  check  the  influence  of  such  men  as  C.  L.  Val- 
landigham,  who  were  aiding  the  South  while  living  in  the  North, 
he  even  suspended  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  He  sent  the  cul- 
prit, when  convicted,  out  of  Ohio  into  the  southern  states 
where  the  friends  whose  cause  he  was  advocating  lived.  Had 
Vallandigham,  who  was  in  the  House  of  Representatives  in  i860, 
lived  in  the  South,  advocated  the  cause  of  the  Union  and  talked 
against  the  South,  as  he  did  against  the  North,  he  would  have 
been  shot,  or  imprisoned  by  the  Confederate  leader. 

Lincoln  was  opposed  to  a  system  of  retaliation,  and  when  the 
South  threatened  to  shoot  Union  negro  soldiers  taken  prisoners, 
there  was  no  retaliatory  action  taken  by  the  North. 

The  draft  was  opposed  in  New  York  and  Governor  Seymour 
requested  Mr.  Lincoln  to  suspend  the  draft,  which  he  refused  to 
do.  A  riot  occurred  in  New  York,  the  Tribune  Office  was  at- 
tacked and  the  colored  orphan  asylum  was  burned.  Colonel 
O'Brien  and  others  were  murdered  by  the  rioters. 

Lincoln,  with  his  simple  honesty  and  straight-forwardness, 
and  Grant  with  his  faithfulness  to  duty  and  his  entire  lack  of 
creative  imagination  and  with  his  happy  development  of  sound 
common  sense,  represent  the  liberal  element  of  the  middle  and 
working  classes;  while  Seymour,  with  his  smooth  and  well-bred 
insidiousness,  characterizes  the  aristocratical  elements  of  the  coun- 
try, furnished  with  the  thinnest  guise  of  liberalism.  Seymour 
occupied  the  position  of  a  bitter  hater  of  the  Republican  party 
with  regard  to  the  war,  but  he  always  knew  how  to  subject  his 
hatred  to  a  cool  political  judgment. 

In  every  stage  of  the  great  contest  he  put  on  the  mask  best 
suited  to  the  momentary  state  of  affairs.  After  having  recom- 
mended in  the  first  months  of  1861  simple  submission  of  the 
North  to  the  South,  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Con- 
federacy and  the  elevation  of  slavery  to  a  National  institution,  he 
attacked  the  Republican  party  at  the  end  of  the  same  year,  and 
also  in  1862,  for  conducting  the  War  without  sufficient  energy 
and  in  too  weak  a  manner.  In  1863,  when  Lee  invaded  Pennsyl- 
vania, he  tried  to  convince  the  North  that  it  was  entirely  defeated 
and  must  accept  the  conditions  which  the  victorious  South  would 
dictate. 


86  Abraham  Lincoln 


Vallandigham  made  a  speech  at  Mt.  Vernon,  Ohio,  against 
"King"  Lincoln,  and  urged  the  people  to  "hurl  the  tyrant  from 
the  throne."  At  the  same  time  a  New  York  paper  was  sup- 
pressed for  one  day  for  inciting  disloyalty. 

Lincoln  ordered  the  suspension  of  the  habeas  corpus. 

General  Burnside's  Order  Number  38,  announced  April  13th, 
1863,  was  as  follows: 

"All  persons  found  within  our  lines,  who  commit  acts  for 
the  benefit  of  the  enemies  of  our  country,  will  be  tried  and  if 
convicted,  will  suffer  death." 

He  also  stated  that :  "The  habit  of  declaring  sympathy  for  the 
enemy,  was  not  to  be  allowed  in  the  Department  of  the  Ohio. 
It  must  be  distinctly  understood  that  treason,  expressed  or  im- 
plied, will  not  be  tolerated  in  this  department." 

Clement  L.  Vallandigham,  formerly  member  of  Congress  from 
Ohio,  i860  became  liable  to  the  provision  of  the  order  and  was 
arrested  on  account  of  disloyal  and  so-called  copperhead  speeches. 
He  was  tried  by  a  military  commission  and  finally  convicted  of 
publicly  expressing  his  sympathy  for  those  in  arms  against  the 
government  of  the  United  States,  in  violation  of  Order  Number 
38.  He  was  sentenced  to  close  confinement  in  some  fortress  of 
the  United  States.  On  an  application  for  a  writ  of  habeas  cor- 
pus, Judge  Humphrey  H.  Leavitt  refused  to  give  it. 

When  the  President,  as  well  as  Burnside,  was  attacked  by 
the  newspapers  of  the  North,  the  President  wrote  to  Burnside  in 
answer  to  a  letter  from  him,  tendering  his  resignation,  if  he  had 
overstepped  his  authority,  as  follows : — 

"The  President  directs  that  without  delay  you  send  C.  L.  Val- 
landigham with  secure  guard  to  the  headquarters  of  Gen.  Rose- 
crans,  to  be  put  by  him  beyond  our  military  lines,  and  in  case 
of  his  return  within  our  lines,  he  be  arrested  and  kept  in  close 
custody  for  the  term  specified  in  his  sentence."  (McPherson's 
History  of  the  Rebellion,  page  162.) 

He  went  through  the  South  and  was  treated  civilly,  but  with 
great  caution  by  the  leaders  of  the  rebellion  and  finally  sailed 
from  Bermuda  on  the  22nd  of  June,  1863  and  arrived  at  Halifax 
on  July  5th  and  then  stopped  at  Windsor,  Canada.  At  this  time  I 
was  studying  at  Michigan  University  in  Ann  Arbor  in  the  law 
department,  and  was  told  about  the  banishment  of  Vallandigham. 

One  day  a  number  of  Union  boys,  including  myself,  took  it 
into  our  heads  to  go  over  to  Windsor  and  call  upon  Vallandigham. 
WTe  met  him  at  his  hotel,  and  he  was  very  glad  to  see  us,  taking 
us  for  sympathizers.  He  told  us  his  troubles  and  denounced  the 
action  of  the  President.  We  did  what  we  could  to  cheer  him  up, 
and  then  bade  him  good-bye. 


Abraham  Lincoln  87 


LINCOLN  STANDS  BY  THE  CONSTITUTION  AND  THE  LAW. 

Mr.  Lincoln  said  (May  1861)  :  "For  my  part,  I  consider  the 
first  necessity  that  is  upon  us,  is  of  providing  that  a  popular 
government  is  not  an  absurdity.  We  must  settle  this  question 
now,  whether  in  a  free  government  the  minority  have  the  right  to 
break  it  up  whenever  they  please.  If  we  fail,  it  will  go  far  to 
prove  the  incapacity  of  the  people  to  govern  themselves.  There 
may  be  one  consideration  used  in  stay  of  such  final  judgment,  but 
that  is  not  for  us  to  use  in  advance.  That  is,  there  exists  in  our 
case  a  vast  and  far-reaching  disturbing  element,  which  the  history 
of  no  other  free  nation  will  probably  ever  present.  That,  how- 
ever, is  not  for  us  to  say  at  present.  Taking  the  government  as 
we  have  found  it,  we  will  see  if  the  majority  can  preserve  it." 

Messrs.  Nicolay  and  Hay  state,  in  their  history  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  published  by  the  Century  Company,  that:  "Had  Lincoln 
been  a  careless,  reckless  man,  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  the  dam- 
age he  might  have  done,  or  the  risk  and  excess  he  might  have 
suffered  the  Government  to  run  into  under  such  conditions  as 
existed  at  the  commencement  of  the  Civil  War.  In  such  a  whirl 
Lincoln's  steady  common  sense  and  caution  were  a  rock  of  safety 
for  the  Nation." 

"Already  at  this  period  (the  commencement  of  his  adminis- 
tration), Lincoln  began  the  display  of  that  rare  ability  in  adminis- 
tration, which  enabled  him  to  smooth  mountains  of  obstacles  and 
bridge  rivers  of  difficulty  in  his  control  of  men." 

Lincoln  was  devoted  to  the  cause  of  freedom  and  a  democratic 
form  of  government  or  representative  republic,  and  he  felt  it 
his  duty  to  the  world  to  maintain  the  Constitution  in  its  integrity 
and  the  Union  in  its  entirety  as  an  example  of  a  model  govern- 
ment for  all  nations  to  recognize  and  copy. 


** 


<*."* 


Abraham  Lincoln  89 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

GENERAL  GEORGE  B.   MCCLELLAN  AND  GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT. 

October  ist,  1862,  President  Lincoln  visited  the  army  to  see 
for  himself  if  it  was  in  good  condition  to  pursue  General  Lee  in- 
to Virginia. 

General  McClellan  says  in  his  general  report :  "His  excellency 
the  President  honored  the  army  of  the  Potomac  with  a  visit  and 
remained  several  days,  during  which  he  went  through  the  differ- 
ent encampments  reviewing  the  troops,  and  also  went  over  the 
battle-field  of  South  Mountain  and  Antietam.  I  had  the  oppor- 
tunity during  the  visit  to  describe  to  him  the  operation  of  the 
army  since  it  left  Washington  and  gave  him  my  reason  for  not 
following  the  enemy  after  he  crossed  the  Potomac." 

In  McClellan's  own  story,  he  says :  "The  President  more 
than  once  assured  me  that  he  was  fully  satisfied  with  my  whole 
course  from  the  beginning ;  that  the  only  fault  that  he  could  pos- 
sibly find  was  that  I  was  too  prone  to  be  sure  that  everything 
was  ready  before  action,  but  that  my  actions  were  all  right  when 
I  started.  I  said  to  him  that  I  thought  a  few  experiments  with 
those  who  acted  before  they  were  ready  would  probably  convince 
him  that  in  the  end  I  consumed  less  time  than  they  did." 

After  the  President's  return  to  Washington,  October  5th, 
General  Halleck  telegraphed  to  McClellan  under  date  October 
6th.  "The  President  directs  that  you  cross  the  Potomac  and 
give  battle  to  the  enemy  or  drive  him  south,"  etc.  (The  battle 
of  Antietam,  by  Jacob  D.  Cox,  Major-General  U.  S.  V.,  Vol. 
II.) 

General  McClellan  was  much  censured  for  his  inactivity  and 
for  not  moving  more  rapidly  against  the  rebel  army,  but  one 
thing  he  accomplished  which  was  of  great  advantage  to  the  Union 
and  that  was  that  he  systematized  and  drilled  the  great  army  of 
the  Potomac  which  Grant  and  others  used  in  finally  conquering 
the  southern  army. 

By  placing  General  Grant  in  command  of  the  military  divi- 
sion of  the  Mississippi  which  was  composed  of  the  departments 
of  the  Ohio,  the  Cumberland,  and  the  Tennessee,  superseding 
Rosecrans  with  General  Thomas,  the  great  victory  at  Chatta- 
nooga, November,  1863,  under  the  immediate  direction  of  Gen- 
eral Grant,  assisted  by  Generals   Sheridan,   Hooker,   Sherman, 


90  Abraham  Lincoln 


Thomas,  and  others,  was  assured.  When  the  president  was  so 
fortunate  as  to  have  General  Grant  and  General  Sherman  to 
carry  on  the  great  campaign  of  the  war,  success  seemed  to  favor 
the  Union  army,  and  there  was  not  the  delay,  uncertainty,  and 
lack  of  co-operation  with  the  war  department  as  had  generally  oc- 
curred when  McClellan  and  some  other  generals  were  in  com- 
mand. 


Letter  to  General  Grant  July  13,  1863 : — 

MY  DEAR  GENERAL  '. 

I  do  not  remember  that  you  and  I  ever  met  personally.  I 
write  this  now  as  a  grateful  acknowledgment  for  the  almost  in- 
estimable service  you  have  done  the  country.  I  wish  to  say  a 
word  further.  When  you  first  reached  the  vicinity  of  Vicks- 
burg,  I  thought  you  should  do  what  you  finally  did, — march  the 
troops  across  the  neck,  run  the  batteries  with  the  transports  and 
then  go  below;  and  I  never  had  any  faith  except  a  general  hope 
that  you  knew  better  than  I,  that  the  Yazoo  Pass  Expedition  and 
the  like,  could  succeed.  When  you  got  below  and  took  Fort 
Gibson,  Grand  Gulf,  and  vicinity,  I  thought  you  should  go  down 
the  river  and  join  General  Banks,  and  when  you  turned  north- 
ward, east  of  the  Big  Black,  I  feared  it  was  a  mistake.  I  now 
wish  to  make  the  personal  acknowledgment  that  you  were  right 
and  I  was  wrong. 

Yours  truly, 

A.  Lincoln. 

After  Burnside  took  possession  of  Knoxville  and  repulsed 
Longstreet,  and  Chattanooga  was  captured  and  the  Union  flag 
floated  from  these  places  to  the  Cumberland  Gap,  the  president 
sent  the  following  dispatch  to  General  Grant,  "Understanding 
that  your  lodgment  at  Chattanooga  and  Knoxville  is  now  secure, 
I  wish  to  tell  you  and  all  under  your  command  of  my  more  than 
thanks,  my  profoundest  gratitude  for  the  skill,  courage,  and  per- 
severance with  which  you  and  they,  through  so  great  difficulties, 
have  effected  that  important  object.    God  bless  you  all." 

General  Grant  said  in  his  reply,  "From  my  first  entrance  into 
the  volunteer  service  of  my  country  to  the  present  day,  I  have 
never  had  cause  of  complaint — Indeed  since  the  promotion 
which  placed  me  in  command  of  all  the  armies,  and  in  view  of 
the  great  responsibilities  and  the  importance  of  success,  I  have 
been  astonished  at  the  readiness  with  which  everything  asked  for 
has  been  yielded  without  ah  explanation  being  asked." 


Abraham  Lincoln  91 


At  times  the  President  became  very  much  discouraged  at  the 
inaction  or  injudicious  orders  of  his  generals.  As  an  instance  of 
this,  was  his  disappointment  when  General  Meade  permitted 
General  Lee  to  cross  the  Potomac  with  his  army  in  retreat  after 
the  Battle  of  Gettysburg.    Nicolay  and  Hay  say: 

"The  1 2th  and  13th  July,  1863,  had  been  passed  by  the  Presi- 
dent in  intense  anxiety,  and  when  on  the  14th  he  heard  of  Lee's 
escape  he  suffered  one  of  the  deepest  and  bitterest  disappoint- 
ments of  the  War.  'We  had  them  within  our  grasp/  he  said. 
'We  had  only  to  stretch  forth  our  hands  and  they  were  ours,  and 
nothing  I  could  say  or  do  could  make  the  army  move.'  He  had 
been  most  unfavorably  impressed  by  a  phrase  in  Meade's  gen- 
eral order  after  the  victory,  in  which  he  spoke  of  'driving  the  in- 
vader from  our  soil.'  This  is  a  dreadful  reminiscence  of  McClel- 
lan:  it  is  the  same  spirit  that  moved  him  to  claim  a  great  vic- 
tory because  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland  were  safe,  he  said, 
"Will  our  generals  never  get  that  idea  out  of  their  heads?  The 
whole  country  is  our  soil."  He  regretted  that  he  had  not  himself 
gone  to  the  army  and  personally  issued  the  order  for  an  attack. 

"Still,"  he  said  "I  am  very  grateful  to  Meade  for  the  great  ser- 
vice he  did  at  Gettysburg." 

In  Lincoln's  correspondence  with  the  generals,  General  T.  W. 
Sherman  said  "he  shows  his  remarkable  correctness  of  military 
views."  General  W.  T.  Smith  said,  "I  have  long  held  to  the  opin- 
ion that  at  the  close  of  the  war  Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  superior  of 
his  generals,  in  comprehension  of  the  effect  of  strategic  move- 
ments and  the  proper  method  of  following  up  victories  to  their 
legitimate  conclusions." 

It  will  be  interesting  to  read  Lincoln's  letter  to  George  B.  Mc- 
Clellan,  February  3,  1862,  and  his  proclamation  revoking  General 
Hunter's  order  setting  the  slaves  free  without  authority,  written 
May  18,  1862. 

When  Lincoln  finally  issued  the  Emancipation  Proclamation 
it  was  not  done  in  a  spirit  of  retaliation,  but  strictly  as  a  war 
measure,  to  facilitate  the  termination  of  a  bitter  struggle  to 
maintain  liberty  and  union  for  the  good  of  humanity. 

Although  at  times  even  General  Grant  was  attacked  by  some 
of  the  most  loyal  newspapers  and  accused  of  incapacity  while 
members  of  the  cabinet  wished  to  have  him  superseded  by  General 
Sherman  or  Rosecrans,  Lincoln  in  spite  of  these  attacks  to  de- 
stroy his  confidence  in  the  great  western  general,  as  stated  by 
his  historians,  stood  stoutly  by  him,  saying  he  should  have  his 
chance,  and  answering  the  over-zealous  people  who  accused  him 
of  intemperance  by  the  famous  mot,"If  I  knew  what  brand  of 
whiskey  he  drinks,  I  would  send  a  barrel  of  the  same  sort  to 


92  Abraham  Lincoln 


some  other  generals."     This  was  during  the  campaign  of  the 
Bayous,  April,  1863. 

Unlike  many  rulers  holding  the  exalted  position  occupied  by 
President  Lincoln,  who  was  not  only  president,  but  Commander- 
in-chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States  with  vast 
discretionary  powers  vested  in  him,  he  was  always  kind,  con- 
siderate and  magnanimous  in  his  treatment  and  correspondence 
with  his  generals,  but  he  was  also  firm  and  in  a  measure  insistent 
upon  what  he  considered  the  wisest  course  to  pursue.  When  he 
had  confidence  in  a  commanding  officer,  he  was  careful  not  to 
interfere  with  his  plans  of  operation,  as  the  following  letter  to 
General  Grant  illustrates: — 


LETTER  FROM  LINCOLN  TO  GRANT,  APRIL  30TH,  1 864. 

"Not  expecting  to  see  you  again  before  the  spring  campaign 
opens  I  wish  to  express  in  this  way,  my  entire  satisfaction  with 
what  you  have  done  up  to  this  time,  so  far  as  I  understand  it. 
The  particulars  of  your  plans  I  neither  know  nor  seek  to  know. 
You  are  vigilant  and  self-reliant;  and  pleased  with  this,  I  wish 
not  to  intrude  any  constraint  nor  restraint  upon  you.  While  I 
am  very  anxious  that  any  disaster  or  capture  of  our  men  in  great 
numbers  shall  be  avoided,  I  know  these  points  are  less  likely 
to  escape  your  detection  than  they  would  be  mine.  If  there  is 
anything  wanting  which  is  within  my  power  to  give,  do  not  fail 
to  let  me  know  it.  And  now,  with  a  brave  army  and  a  just  cause, 
may  God  sustain  you." 

There  were  few  men  occupying  positions  of  authority  at  this 
critical  period  who  could  have  been  intrusted  with  the  almost 
despotic  and  discretionary  power  vested  in  presidents,  who  would 
have  exercised  this  power  with  as  much  forbearance  and  wisdom 
as  did  the  patient  and  considerate  man  ordained  to  fill  the  re- 
sponsible position  of  the  executive  of  this  great  nation  in  such 
a  crisis. 

The  following  letter  addressed  to  Secretary  Stanton  March 
1st,  1864,  will  illustrate  the  fine  sense  of  justice  and  human  sym- 
pathy which,  amid  all  his  trials  and  responsibilities,  Mr.  Lincoln 
never  neglected  to  carry  out  himself,  or  see  that  those  subject  to 
his  control  also  enforced. 

"my  dear  sir  : — 

A  poor  widow,  by  the  name  of  Baird,  has  a  son  in  the  army, 
that  for  some  offense  has  been  sent  to  serve  a  long  time  without 
pay,  or  at  most,  with  very  little  pay.  I  do  not  like  this  punish- 
ment of  withholding  pay — it  falls  so  very  hard  upon  poor  fam- 


Abraham  Lincoln  93 


ilies.  After  he  had  been  serving  in  this  way  for  several  months, 
at  the  tearful  appeal  of  the  poor  mother,  I  made  a  direction  that 
he  be  allowed  to  enlist  a  new  term,  on  the  same  condition  as 
others.  She  now  comes  and  says  she  cannot  get  it  acted  upon. 
Please  do  it." 

A.    LINCOLN. 


note  to  secretary  stanton;  washington,  november  ii,  1863. 

"dear  sir: 

I  personally  wish  Jacob  Freese  of  New  Jersey,  to  be  appoint- 
ed colonel  of  a  colored  regiment,  and  this  regardless  of  whether 
he  can  or  cannot  tell  the  exact  shade  of  Julius  Caesar's  hair." 

a.  l. 


LETTER  TO  THE  MOTHER  OF  FIVE   HERO  SONS. 

A  remarkable  letter  written  by  the  President  to  a  mother  who 
lost  five  sons  in  Civil  War. 

Executive  Mansion, 
Washington,  November  21,  1864. 

To  Mrs.  Bixby,  Boston  Mass. 

Dear  Madam:  I  have  been  shown  in  the  files  of  the  War 
Department  a  statement  of  the  Adjutant  General  of  Massachu- 
setts that  you  are  the  mother  of  five  sons,  who  have  died  glori- 
ously on  the  field  of  battle.  I  feel  how  weak  and  fruitless  must 
be  any  word  of  mine  which  should  attempt  to  beguile  you  from 
the  grief  of  a  loss  so  overwhelming.  But  I  cannot  refrain  from 
tendering  you  the  consolation  that  may  be  found  in  the  thanks 
of  the  republic  they  died  to  save.  I  pray  that  our  Heavenly 
Father  may  assuage  the  anguish  of  your  bereavement,  and  leave 
you  only  the  cherished  memory  of  the  loved  and  lost,  and  the 
solemn  pride  that  must  be  yours  to  have  laid  so  costly  a  sacrifice 
upon  the  altar  of  freedom. 

Yours  very  sincerely  and  respectfully, 

A.  LINCOLN. 


94  Abraham  Lincoln 


A  LINCOLN   STORY. 

It  appears  that  during  Mr.  Lincoln's  term  at  the  White  House, 
Mr.  Cross  was  painting  his  portrait,  calling  at  the  Executive 
Mansion  several  times  a  week  for  this  purpose.  Mr.  Cross  had 
secured  the  friendship  and  notice  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  owing  to  hav- 
ing rescued  the  President  a  number  of  years  before  while  crossing 
a  river,  the  row-boat  having  capsized. 

On  this  particular  morning,  when  Mr.  Cross  was  hurrying 
across  the  City  of  Washington  to  keep  his  appointment,  he  ran 
across  an  elderly  lady  who  stopped  the  painter  and  asked  him  if 
he  could  direct  her  to  the  Executive  Mansion.  Mr.  Cross  said 
that  he,  himself,  was  going  there,  and  would  be  glad  to  direct 
her,  and  asked  "What  takes  you  there,  Mother?"  She  said  "I 
want  to  see  the  President  about  my  boy,  who  is  going  to  be  shot 
as  a  deserter  tomorrow  morning."  Having  reached  the  White 
House,  Mr.  Cross  was  greeted  by  the  President,  who  met  him 
at  the  door  in  a  sort  of  a  lounging  robe,  which  had  a  big  rent 
in  it.  Mr.  Cross  told  the  President  the  mission  of  the  old  lady, 
and  Lincoln,  out  of  the  goodness  of  his  heart,  asked  her  to  re- 
peat her  story.  He  said  "Tell  me,  Mother,  all  about  it."  She 
replied  "My  boy  is  a  good  boy,  there  is  nothing  bad  about  him; 
I  guess  he  had  gotten  homesick  and  wanted  to  see  his  mother 
again,  and  so  he  came  up  North;  he  is  a  good  boy,  Mr.  Presi- 
dent, and  I  don't  want  him  shot."  Mr.  Lincoln  said  "Just  a 
minute,"  and  looking  off  into  space  he  thought  for  some  time, 
and  then  said  "Mother,  you  may  have  your  boy,"  and  thereupon 
he  dispatched  a  message  ordering  the  release  of  the  young  man. 

The  President  put  off  his  sitting  for  his  portrait  for  Mr.  Cross 
that  morning,  and  said  "Mr.  Cross,  take  this  dear  old  lady  and 
put  her  up, — see  that  she  is  housed  and  fed,  and  when  her  son 
gets  back  to  her  I  want  to  hear  further  of  his  case." 

A  letter  written  by  the  president  Sept.  28,  1862  and  recently 
published.     It  was  given  to     the  Press  by  Mr.  John  Maynard 


Harmon  on  Feb.  3,  1916. 
Strictly  private.' 


Hon.  Hanibal  Hamlin, 


my  dear  sir  : 


Executive  Mansion, 
Washington,  Sept.  28,  1862. 


Your  kind  letter  of  the  25th  is  just  received.  It  is  known  to 
some  that  while  I  hope  something  from  the  proclamation,  my 
expectations  are  not  so  sanguine  as  are  those  of  some  friends. 


Abraham  Lincoln  95 


The  time  for  its  effect  Southward  has  not  come;  but  North- 
ward— the  effect  should  be  instantaneous.  It  is  six  days  old, 
and  while  commendation  in  newspapers  and  by  distinguished 
individuals,  is  all  that  a  vain  man  could  wish,  the  stocks  have 
declined,  and  troops  come  forward  more  slowly  than  ever.  This, 
looked  soberly  in  the  face,  is  not  very  satisfactory.  We  have 
fewer  troops  in  the  field  at  the  end  of  the  six  days  than  we  had 
at  the  beginning — the  attrition  among  the  old,  outnumbering 
the  addition  by  the  new.  The  North  responds  to  the  proclama- 
tion sufficiently  IN  BREATH;  but  breath  alone  kills  no  rebels. 
I  wish  I  could  write  more  cheerfully;  nor  do  I  thank  you  the 
less  for  the  kindness  of  your  letter. 

Yours  very  truly, 

a.  LINCOLN. 


Abraham  Lincoln  97 


CHAPTER  IX. 


SETTLEMENT    OF    TRENT    EPISODE. 

"The  Trent  affair  also  shows  the  control  Lincoln  maintained 
over  events  that  were  suddenly  flung  upon  him  to  be  met;  its 
early  settlement  showed  the  wisdom  of  the  president  and  his 
cabinet.  Through  their  deliberations  and  foresight,  the  cordial 
relations  were  maintained  as  far  as  possible  which  had  hereto- 
fore existed  between  England  and  the  United  States."  Henry 
C.  Whitney,  in  his  "Life  on  the  Circuit  with  Lincoln,"  (Estes 
&  Lauriat,  Boston,  gives  a  clear  and  truthful  description  of  Lin- 
coln in  his  earlier  efforts  while  on  the  circuit  in  Illinois. 

D.  MacNeill  Fairfax,  Rear-Admiral  U.  S.  N.,  executive  officer 
of  the  San  Jacinto,  of  which  Captain  John  Wilkes  was  com- 
mander, made  the  following  statement  in  "Battles  and  Leaders 
of  the  Civil  War,"  Vol.  II. 

"At  Cienfugos,  he,  Captain  Wilkes,  learned  that  Messrs.  Mason 
and  Slidell,  Confederate  Commissioners  to  Europe,  had  reached 
that  port,  en  route  to  England.  We  ascertained  that  their  plan 
was  to  leave  on  the  7th  of  November  in  the  English  steamer 
Trent,  for  St.  Thomas,  on  their  way  to  England,  and  readily 
calculated  when  and  where  in  the  Bahama  Channel  we  might 
intercept  them.  *  *  *  After  boarding  the  Trent,  I  asked 
Captain  Moir,  if  I  might  see  the  passenger  list,  saying  I  had  in- 
formation that  Messrs.  Mason  and  Slidell  were  on  board." 

"The  mention  of  Mr.  Slidell's  name  caused  that  gentleman  to 
come  up  and  say,  'I  am  Mr.  Slidell;  do  you  want  to  see  me?' 
Mr.  Mason,  whom  I  knew  well,  also  came  up  at  the  same  time. 
*  *  *  I  informed  Captain  Moir  that  I  had  been  sent  by  my 
Commander  to  arrest  Mr.  Mason  and  Mr.  Slidell."  A  full  ac- 
count of  this  affair  is  given  in  the  second  volume  of  "The  An- 
nals of  the  War."  Mr.  John  Mason  and  Mr.  James  M.  Slidell, 
Confederate  Commissioners  to  Great  Britain  and  France,  were 
taken  on  board  the  United  States  screw  sloop  of  war  San  Ja- 
cinto, to  Fort  Monroe,  and  afterwards  to  New  York  and  Boston. 
A  preemptory  demand  was  made  by  England  for  their  release. 
The  Commissioners  were  subsequently  released  without  unneces- 
sary delay  by  the  order  of  the  president  after  conference  with 
Wm.  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State. 


98  Abraham  Lincoln 


It  was  the  16th  of  November  when  news  of  the  incident, 
afterwards    known    as   the   Trent    affair,   reached    Washington. 

"The  capture  of  the  Confederate  Commissioners  on  the  high 
seas  under  a  neutral  flag,  in  flagrant  violation  of  the  law  of 
nations,  a  violation,  brutal  in  its  method,  and  useless  in  its  re- 
sults, most  dangerous  in  its  consequences,  was  hailed  by  public 
opinion  as  a  splendid  victory  for  the  stars  and  stripes." 

"Two  men  in  Washington  comprehended  from  the  first  the 
danger  to  their  country  of  the  inconsiderate  act  of  Wilkes.  These 
were  Seward  and  McClellan,  the  former  burdened  with  an  im- 
mense responsibility,  patriotically  dissimulated  his  opinion  with 
extraordinary  finesse;  he  permitted  the  excitement  to  spend  it- 
self, and,  thanks  to  the  slowness  of  communication  with  England, 
gained  time  enough  to  extricate  his  government  at  the  critical 
juncture,  by  enveloping  the  decision  he  had  succeeded  in  ex- 
torting from  'the  powers  that  be'  in  a  specious  web  of  plausi- 
bilities, calculated  to  sweeten  the  bitterness  caused  at  home  by 
England's  exactions,  and  at  the  same  time  to  satisfy  her  just 
demands." 

"He  succeeded  in  sparing  his  country  and  the  world  the  hor- 
rors of  a  war,  the  result  of  which  could  hardly  be  imagined." 
(Philippe,  Count  de  Paris,  Aid-de-Camp  to  Gen.  McClellan). 

The  president  disavowed  the  actions  of  Captain  Wilkes  as  the 
arrests  were  made  without  authority,  and  gave  up  Mason  and 
Slidell,  in  accordance  with  the  principle  on  which  the  War  of 
1812  was  fought,  to  maintain,  namely,  the  denial  of  the  right 
to  search  neutral  vessels. 

Mason  and  Slidell,  who  were  taken  from  the  Trent  in  a 
British  vessel,  by  Capt.  Wilkes,  November  8,  1862,  were  sur- 
rendered on  the  demand  of  England,  after  considerable  negotia- 
tions with  England.  By  acknowledging  the  right  of  England  in 
this  case,  it  settled  the  contention  maintained  during  the  War 
of  1 812  by  the  United  States,  which  was  the  cause  of  that 
war.  Thus  England  tacitly  admitted,  or  took  the  position  in 
this  case,  that  foreign  nations  had  no  right  to  search  the  vessels 
of  another  power  to  obtain  possession  of  their  subjects. 


THE  TREATY  OF  GHENT. 

The  original  instructions  of  President  Madison  were  to  insist 
on  the  abolition  of  the  forcible  impressment  at  sea  as  a  sine  qua 
non  of  peace.  Later  Secretary  of  State  Monroe  instructed  the 
commissioners  to  omit-  any  stipulation  upon  the  subject  of  im- 
pressment if  found  indispensably  necessary  to  terminate  the  war. 


Abraham  Lincoln  99 


Henry  Clay,  one  of  the  commissioners,  said,  "it  was  a  dam- 
nably bad  treaty,  and  I  don't  know  whether  I  would  stand  it  or 
not/'    But  it  was  signed. 


Lincoln's  desire  for  reconciliation. 

To  show  the  spirit  of  reconciliation  on  the  part  of  Lincoln, 
which  also  began  to  prevail  among  the  officers  controlling  the 
army,  it  is  in  point  to  state  the  opinion  which  was  expressed  by 
the  Confederate  general,  Joseph  E.  Johnson,  at  the  time  of  his 
surrender:  "United  States  troops  that  remained  in  the  south- 
ern states  on  military  duty,  conducted  themselves  as  if  they 
thought  that  the  object  of  the  war  had  been  the  restoration  of 
the  Union.  They  treated  the  people  of  these  states  as  they 
would  have  treated  those  of  Ohio  or  New  York,  if  stationed 
among  them,  as  their  fellow  citizens." 

The  mind  of  Lincoln  must  be  studied  separately,  distinctly, 
and  without  bias,  on  account  of  his  early  inferior  environments. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  location  and  surroundings  of  one's 
birth  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  genius  or  ability  of  a  person. 
Trace  the  ancestry  of  the  most  prominent  royal  families,  great 
statesmen,  scholars,  generals  and  scientists,  and  you  will  find 
humble  and  obscure  beginnings.  The  mind  is,  as  it  were,  an  in- 
dependent entity,  disassociated  with  material  accompaniments. 
So,  in  studying  Lincoln,  one  must  analyze  his  thoughts,  his 
prominent  mental  features  and  his  predominating  principles, 
and  forget  where  he  was  born  or  how  he  was  originally  pro- 
vided with  goods.  His  mind  could  grasp  and  did  grasp  with 
equal,  if  not  superior  clearness,  strength,  and  rapidity,  all  the 
great  principles  underlying  our  system  of  government,  as  did 
the  mind  of  Webster,  or  Washington,  Jefferson,  Madison,  Mon- 
roe, or  statesmen  of  his  day  like  W.  H.  Seward,  Lyman  Trum- 
bull, David  Davis,  or  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  all  of  whom  had  been 
favored  with  more  educational  advantages  than  Lincoln.  His 
mind  was  irrepressible,  and  constantly  alive  to  all  great  ques- 
tions of  the  day  and  hour.  His  mind  broke  through  his  ma- 
terial and  at  first  obscure  surroundings  like  the  rays  of  the  sun 
through  the  mists  about  the  earth,  or  the  flash  of  lightning 
through  the  clouds  in  the  sky. 

After  the  victory  at  Gettysburg,  he  expressed  a  desire  that 
in  the  customary  celebrations  of  the  Fourth  of  July,  it  should 
be  acknowledged  that,  "He  whose  will,  not  ours,  should  every- 
where be  done,  be  everywhere  reverenced  with  profoundest  grati- 
tude." 


100  Abraham  Lincoln 


THANKSGIVING    PROCLAMATION. 

On  the  15th  of  July,  1863,  Mr.  Lincoln  issued  a  proclamation 
naming  the  sixth  of  August  "as  a  day  of  Thanksgiving  and  prayer, 
to  render  the  homage  due  to  the  Divine  Majesty  for  the  wonder- 
ful things  He  has  done  in  the  nation's  behalf:  and  invoke  the 
influence  of  His  Holy  Spirit  to  subdue  the  anger  which  has 
produced  and  so  long  sustained  a  needless  and  cruel  rebellion; 
to  change  the  hearts  of  the  insurgents;  to  guide  the  counsels 
of  the  government  with  wisdom  adequate  to  so  great  a  national 
emergency;  and  to  visit  with  tender  care  and  consolation, 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  our  land  all  those  who, 
through  the  vicissitudes  of  the  marches,  voyages,  battles  and 
sieges,  have  been  brought  to  suffer  in  mind,  body,  or  estate;  and 
finally  to  lead  the  whole  nation,  through  paths  of  repentence 
and  submission  to  the  Divine  Will,  back  to  the  perfect  enjoy- 
ment of  a  Union  and  fraternal  peace." 

On  the  15th  of  November,  1862,  Lincoln  issued  the  following 
letter:  "The  importance  for  man  and  beast  of  the  prescribed 
weekly  rest,  the  sacred  rights  of  Christian  soldiers  and  sailors, 
a  becoming  deference  to  the  best  sentiments  of  a  Christian 
people,  and  a  due  regard,  for  the  Divine  Will,  demand  that 
Sunday  labor  in  the  Army  and  Navy  be  reduced  to  the  meas- 
ure of  strict  necessity.  The  discipline  and  character  of  the 
national  forces  should  not  suffer,  nor  the  cause  they  defend  be 
imperiled,  by  the  profanation  of  the  day,  or  the  name  of  the 
Most  High."     (Stoddard's,  "Life  of  Lincoln.") 


ADDRESS    AT    THE    DEDICATION    OF    THE    NATIONAL    CEMETERY    AT 
GETTYSBURG.      NOVEMBER    I9TH,    1863. 

"Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought  forth  upon 
this  continent  a  new  nation,  conceived  in  liberty,  and  dedicated 
to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created  equal. 

"Now  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war,  testing  whether  that 
nation,  or  any  nation  so  conceived  and  so  dedicated,  can  long 
endure.  We  are  met  on  a  great  battle-field  of  that  war.  We 
have  come  to  dedicate  a  portion  of  that  field  as  a  final  resting- 
place  for  those  who  here  gave  their  lives  that  this  nation  might 
live.     It  is  altogether  fitting  and  proper  that  we  should  do  this. 

"But  in  a  larger  sense  we  cannot  dedicate,  we  cannot  conse- 
crate, we  cannot  hallow  this  ground.  The  brave  men,  living 
and  dead,  who  struggled  here,  have  consecrated  it  far  above 
our  power  to  add  or  detract.     The  world  will  little  note  nor 


Abraham  Lincoln  101 


long  remember  what  we  say  here,  but  it  can  never  forget  what 
they  did  here.  It  is  for  us,  the  living,  rather,  to  be  dedicated 
here  to  the  unfinished  work  which  they  who  fought  here  have  thus 
far  so  nobly  advanced.  It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here  dedicated  to 
the  great  task  remaining  before  us,  that  from  these  honoured 
dead  we  take  increased  devotion  to  that  cause  for  which  they 
gave  the  last  full  measure  of  devotion;  that  we  here  highly  re- 
solve that  these  dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain;  that  this 
nation,  under  God,  shall  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom;  and  that 
government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people, 
shall  not  perish  from  the  earth." 

This  speech  is  considered  one  of  the  masterpieces  of  English  \ 
literature,  and  so  will  be  handed  down  to  future  generations  of  f 
Americans.  / 


LORD  CURZON   HONORS  LINCOLN. 

Lord  Curzon  of  Kedleston,  chancellor  of  Oxford  university,  \ 
delivering  the   Rhodes   lecture   on   "Parliamentary   Eloquence," 
tonight  said  he  would  escape  the  task  of  deciding  which  was  the    | 
masterpiece  of  modern  British  eloquence  by  awarding  the  prize  / 
to  the  American,  Abraham  Lincoln. 


PROCLAMATION. 

The  following  proclamation  was  issued  by  President  Lincoln: 
"Reliable  information  being  received  that  the  insurgent  force 
is  retreating  from  East  Tennessee,  under  circumstances  render- 
ing it  probable  that  the  Union  forces  cannot  be  hereafter  dis- 
lodged from  that  important  position,  and  entertaining  this  to 
be  of  high  national  consequence,  I  recommend  that  all  loyal 
people  do,  on  receipt  of  this  information,  assemble  at  their  places 
of  worship,  and  render  special  homage  and  gratitude  to  Almighty 
God,  for  this  great  advancement  of  the  national  cause." 

The  following  was  repeated  by  Lincoln  at  one  of  the  crisis  of 
the  war :  "God  hath  spoken  once ;  twice  have  I  heard  this ;  that 
power  belongeth  unto  God."    Psalm  62-11. 

Lincoln's  faith  in  god. 

"God  hath  spoken  once ;  twice  have  I  heard  him ;  that  power 
belongeth  unto  God."     Psalm  62-11. 

In  his  inaugural  address  March  4th,  1861,  Lincoln  said :    "In- 


102  Abraham  Lincoln 


telligence,  patriotism,  Christianity  and  a  firm  reliance  on  Him, 
who  has  never  yet  forsaken  this  favored  land,  are  still  competent 
to  adjust  in  the  best  way  all  our  present  difficulties.  If  the 
Almighty  ruler  of  nations,  with  His  eternal  truth  and  justice, 
be  on  our  side,  the  North,  or  on  yours,  the  South,  that  truth 
and  justice  will  surely  prevail  by  the  judgment  of  the  Great 
Tribunal  of  the  American  people."  September,  1862,  Lincoln 
wrote  thus :  "The  will  of  God  prevails  in  great  tests ;  each 
party  claims  to  act  in  accordance  with  the  will  of  God.  Both 
may  be,  and  one  must  be,  wrong.  God  cannot  be  for  and  against 
the  same  thing  at  the  same  time.  In  the  present  civil  war,  it  is 
quite  possible  that  God's  purpose  is  something  different  from 
the  purpose  of  either  party ;  and  yet  the  human  instrumentalities, 
working  just  as  they  do,  are  of  the  best  adaptions  to  effect 
His  purpose.  I  am  almost  ready  to  say  that  this  is  probably 
true:  that  God  wills  this  contest  and  wills  that  it  will  not  end 
yet.  By  His  mere  great  power  on  the  minds  of  the  now  con- 
testants, he  could  have  either  saved  or  destroyed  the  Union  with- 
out a  human  contest,  yet  the  contest  began,  and  having  begun, 
He  could  give  the  final  victory  to  either  side  any  day,  yet  the 
contest  proceeds." 

W.  O.  Stoddard,  one  of  Lincoln's  historians,  says :  "This 
man  who  could  not  lie  and  did  not  know  how  to  be  a  hypocrite, 
publicly  and  before  the  world  declared  his  simple  faith  both 
then  and  afterwards ;  so  doing  he  continually  called  upon  his 
countrymen  to  join  him  in  acts  of  repentance,  forgiveness,  prayer, 
thanksgiving,  hope,  trust;  reassuring  them  in  God's  name  when 
their  hearts  sank  and  their  own  flesh  failed." 

While  at  Richmond  the  president  said  that  the  terms  of  sur- 
render should  be  liberal.  "Get  them  to  plowing  once,"  he  said, 
in  Admiral  Porter's  presence,  "and  gathering  their  little  crops 
and  eating  popcorn  at  their  fireside,  and  you  can't  get  them  to 
shoulder  muskets  again  for  half  a  century." 

"They  will  never  shoulder  their  muskets  again  in  anger,  and  if 
General  Grant  is  wise,  he  will  leave  them  their  guns  to  shoot 
their  own  crows,  and  their  horses  to  plow  with.  It  will  do  them 
no  harm."    He  advised  to  let  them  down  easy. 


PROCLAMATION    FOR  A   NATIONAL   FAST  DAY,   AUGUST    l86l. 

"Whereas,  it  is  fit  and  becoming  in  all  peoples,  at  all  times, 
to  acknowledge  and  revere  the  Supreme  Government  of  God; 
to  bow  in  humble  submission  to  His  chastisement ;  to  confess  and 
deplore  their  sins  and  transgressions,  in  the  full  conviction  that 
the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom;  and  to  pray 


Abraham  Lincoln  103 


with  all  fervency  and  contrition  for  the  pardon  of  their  past  of- 
fenses, and  for  a  blessing  upon  their  present  and  prospective 
action : 

"And  whereas,  when  our  beloved  country,  once,  by  the  bless- 
ing of  God,  united  prosperous  and  happy;  is  now  afflicted  with 
faction  and  civil  war,  it  is  peculiarly  fit  for  us  to  recognize  the 
hand  of  God  in  this  terrible  visitation,  and  in  sorrowful  remem- 
brance of  our  own  faults  and  crimes  as  a  nation  and  as  individuals, 
to  humble  ourselves  before  Him,  and  to  pray  for  His  mercy — to 
pray  that  we  may  be  spared  further  punishment,  though  most 
fully  deserved;  that  our  arms  may  be  blessed  and  made  effectual 
for  the  re-establishment  of  law,  order  and  peace  throughout  the 
wide  extent  of  our  country;  and  that  the  inestimable  boon  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty  earned  His  guidance  and  blessing  by 
the  labors  and  sufferings  of  our  fathers,  may  be  restored  in  all 
its  original  excellence." 

Some  gentlemen  from  the  West  called  at  the  White  House  one 
day,  excited  and  troubled  about  some  commission  or  omission 
of  the  administration.  The  president  heard  them  silently  and 
then  replied : 

"Gentlemen,  suppose  all  the  property  you  were  worth  was 
in  gold,  and  you  had  put  it  in  the  hands  of  Blondin,  to  carry 
across  the  Niagara  river  on  a  rope,  would  you  shake  the  cable, 
or  keep  shouting  at  him,  'Blondin,  stand  up  a  little  straighter 
— Blondin,  stoop  a  little  more — go  a  little  faster — lean  a  little 
to  the  north — lean  a  little  to  the  south?" 

"No,  you  would  hold  your  breath  as  well  as  your  tongue, 
and  keep  your  hands  off  until  he  was  safely  over.  The  govern- 
ment is  carrying  an  enormous  weight,  untold  treasures  are  in 
its  hands;  they  are  doing  the  very  best  they  can.  Don't 
badger  them.  Keep  silence  and  we  will  get  you  safely  across." 
(Tarbell's  Life  of  Lincoln.) 


LINCOLN    BELIEVES    IN    PRAYER. 

Mr.  W.  O.  Stoddard,  in  his  "Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,"  says : 
"On  the  morning  of  the  funeral  of  Willie,  he  said  of  the 
prayers  offered  for  him  by  the  good  people  all  over  the  land, 
'I  am  glad  to  hear  that.  I  want  them  to  pray  for  me.  I  need 
their  prayers.' " 

After  the  terrible  and  sanguinary  battles  of  Shiloh  and  Cor- 
inth, Mr.  Lincoln  issued  a  proclamation  for  that  and  all  other 
victories,  asking  the  people  to  render  thanks  to  our  Heavenly 
Father  for  these  inestimable  blessings,  and  to  implore  spiritual 


104  Abraham  Lincoln 


consolation  on  behalf  of  all  those  who  have  been  brought  into 
affliction  by  the  casualties  and  calamities  of  Civil  War. 

Mr.  Lincoln  said,  "I  have  never  had  a  feeling,  politically, 
that  did  not  spring  from  the  sentiments  embodied  in  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence." — "I  have  often  inquired  of  myself, 
what  great  principle  or  idea  it  was  that  kept  this  confederacy 
so  long  together."  It  was  not  the  mere  matter  of  the  separa- 
tion of  the  colonies  from  the  mother  land,  but  that  sentiment 
in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  which  gave  liberty  not  alone 
to  the  people  of  this  country,  but  hope  to  all  the  world,  for  all 
future  time.  Now,  my  friends,  can  this  country  be  saved  on  that 
basis?  If  it  can,  I  will  consider  myself  one  of  the  happiest  men 
in  the  world,  if  I  can  help  to  save  it.  If  it  cannot  be  saved  upon 
that  principle,  it  will  be  truly  awful,  but  if  this  country  cannot 
be  saved  without  giving  up  that  principle,  I  was  about  to  say,  I 
would  rather  be  assassinated  on  this  spot,  than  surrender  it." 


the:  question  of  slavery. 

Those  who  protested  against  the  tyranny  of  Great  Britain  and 
advocated  freedom  in  the  early  history  of  the  constitution,  turned 
about  and  immediately  undertook  to  keep  in  bondage  other  men 
in  open  defiance  of  the  principles  of  liberty  which  they  advocated 
in  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

Abraham  Lincoln  said  that :  "He  who  would  be  no  slave,  must 
consent  to  have  no  slaves.  Those  who  deny  freedom  to  others, 
deserve  it  not  for  themselves ;  and,  under  a  just  God  cannot  long 
retain  it."    (From  letter  to  a  Boston  Committee  1859). 

It  took  a  long  time  for  the  punishment  of  the  crime  for  keep- 
ing a  certain  race  of  men  in  bondage  to  react  and  overtake  those 
who  had  inherited,  or  subsequently  became  possessed  of  slaves. 
But  when  it  did  come,  it  surely  came  with  a  vengeance,  and  not 
only  affected  them,  but  the  entire  nation  which  had  tolerated 
slavery. 

The  southern  slave-holders  would  have  built  up  a  despotic 
empire  in  the  western  hemisphere  with  slavery  as  its  corner  stone. 
They  would  have  reversed  the  world's  progress,  and  retarded  civ- 
ilization by  returning  to  the  barbarism  of  the  Dark  Ages.  That, 
too,  at  a  time  when  all  civilized  nations,  with  the  exception  of 
Brazil,  had  abandoned  the  system  of  slavery.  It  is  to  be  re- 
membered that  Russia  liberated  the  serfs  in  the  year  1861. 

Although  Lincoln  was  given  at  the  time  almost  autocratic 
power  for  the  time-being,  he  did  not  abuse  it,  or  use  it  wrong- 
fully.    This  could  not  be  said  of  the  leaders  of  the  Rebellion 


Abraham  Lincoln  105 


who  immediately  created  autocratic  power  over  the  new  South- 
ern Confederacy. 

It  has  been  stated  by  those  opposed  to  giving  negroes  the  right 
to  vote  that :  "you  cannot  build  in  a  democracy  a  nation  inside  a 
nation  of  two  antagonistic  races.  The  future  American  must  be 
either  an  Anglo-Saxon  or  a  mulatto." 

The  negro  race  was  emancipated  in  1862,  and  given  the  right 
of  suffrage,  and  I  am  safe  in  saying  that  there  have  not  been  as 
many  mulattoes  born  since  this  date  as  were  born  when  they  were 
under  the  power  of  slave  masters.  The  law  of  natural  selection, 
where  men  and  women  are  free  to  choose,  will  regulate  the  mar- 
riage question  without  any  law  as  to  amalgamation.  It  is  only 
force  and  interference  that  destroys  this  natural  law. 


SOME  DEFECTS  IN  WEST  POINT  TRAINING. 

Abraham  Lincoln  struggled  alone,  without  any  outside  assist- 
ance, to  fit  himself  for  future  usefulness,  and  to  master  the  knowl- 
edge that  would  enable  him  to  maintain  the  integrity  of  the  Union 
and  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  which  Jefferson  Davis 
and  Robert  E.  Lee  were  to  attempt  to  destroy,  after  they  had 
been  thoroughly  educated  at  West  Point,  at  the  expense  of  the 
United  States  government. 

It  is  evident  from  the  well-known  character  and  patriotic  dem- 
ocratic and  loyal  principles  adhered  to  by  Abraham  Lincoln 
throughout  his  useful  and  eventful  career,  that  he  was  not  trained 
at  West  Point  in  his  early  manhood,  like  Jefferson  Davis  and 
Robert  E.  Lee,  Pierre  Gustave  Toutant  Beauregard,  Simon 
Bolivar  Buckner,  Geo.  B.  McClellan,  and  Joseph  Hunter.  It  is 
stated  that  the  latter  once  told  a  friend  of  Salmon  P.  Chase,  that 
"Abraham  Lincoln  was  a  man  irresolute,  but  of  honest  inten- 
tions ;  born  a  poor  white  in  a  slave  state,  and  among  aristocrats ; 
kind  in  spirit  and  not  envious,  but  anxious  for  the  approval  of 
those  especially  whom  he  has  been  accustomed  to  look  up  to,  hence 
solicitous  of  the  support  of  the  slave  holders  in  the  border  states, 
and  unwilling  to  offend  them;  without  the  large  mind  necessary 
to  grasp  great  questions,  uncertain  of  himself,  and  in  many  things 
ready  to  lean  too  much  on  others."  Secretary  of  State  Chase 
wrote  in  his  diary  of  Gen.  Hunter,  that  "he  was  a  well  read  and 
extremely  intelligent  gentleman."  In  this  connection  it  will  be 
interesting  to  read  Lincoln's  proclamation  revoking  Hunter's 
order  freeing  slaves,  May  16,  1862. 

In  a  letter  to  Hon.  John  Sherman  on  Sept.  20,  1862,  Secretary 
Chase  says :  "Speaking  of  the  West,  I  am  reminded  that  within 
the  last  few  days  I  heard  an  officer  say  that  he  heard  your  brother 


106  Abraham  Lincoln 


the  General,  abuse  you  roundly  at  Corinth,  as  one  of  the abo- 
litionists who  had  brought  on  this  war,  saying  that  he  was 
ashamed  to  own  you  for  a  brother.  Is  it  possible  that  the  pro- 
slavery  views  of  West  Point  can  have  affected  him  in  this  way? 
I  hear  from  all  sources  that  nearly  all  of  the  officers  in  Buell's 
army,  and  Buell  himself,  are  pro-slavery  to  the  last  degree." 
Abraham  Lincoln,  with  the  knowledge  he  gained  by  personal 
effort,  through  studying  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the 
Constitution  and  the  history  of  its  formation,  the  Federalist,  the 
History  of  the  Revolution  and  his  legal  text  books,  was  better 
qualified  mentally  and  morally  to  loyally  administer  the  affairs  of 
our  representative  Republic  in  accordance  with  the  Constitution, 
than  either  Jefferson  Davis  or  Robert  E.  Lee,  with  their  four 
years  of  military  training  at  West  Point,  under  the  direct  super- 
vision of  the  United  States  Government,  which  seems  to  have 
instilled  into  the  former,  at  least,  a  disbelief  in  the  fundamental 
principles  on  which  the  Republic  was  founded.  Each  of  the  latter 
came  out  of  West  Point  transformed  into  a  full-fledged  aristocrat 
and  each  maintained  his  aristocratic  bearing  to  the  end.  It  may 
truthfully  be  added  that  George  B.  McClellan  and  John  C.  Fre- 
mont were  also  affected  in  a  similar  manner,  unlike  General  U. 
S.  Grant,  who  maintained  his  democratic  bearing  to  the  end. 


MUCH    COLLEGE   TRAINING    UNDEMOCRATIC. 

West  Point  is  not  the  only  institution  of  learning  subject  to 
criticism.  Students  now  attending  lectures  in  some  of  our  great 
universities  are  taught  to  look  upon  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence as  a  compilation  of  glittering  generalities  not  to  be  taken 
seriously  or  literally. 

Mr.  Harold  Bolce,  who  attended  lectures  in  many  universities, 
in  the  Cosmopolitan  Magazine,  says: 

"Professor  Sumner  of  Yale  has  little  respect  for  the  great 
principles  of  1776;  conspicuous  among  these  historical  delusions 
of  colonial  times  is  the  doctrine  that  proclaims  that  governments 
get  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed.  He 
claims  that  this  is  untrue,  that  it  has  been  trodden  under  foot,  and 
it  will  meet  the  same  fate  as  the  rest  of  the  principles  which, 
seen  through  the  mist  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  have  seemed 
great  to  us."  He  says  that  the  idea  that  all  men  are  created 
equal  is  being  gradually  dropped  for  its  inherent  absurdity.  He 
also  says  that  the  terms  "democracy,"  "the  people,"  "Wall 
Street,"  "Slave,"  like  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  are  catch 
words  to  advance  the  welfare  of  a  fantastic  government  and 
society. 


Abraham  Lincoln  107 


Barrett  Wendell  of  Harvard  University  tells  Harvard  students, 
"The  revolution  was  fought  to  uphold  a  delusion  and  maintain  the 
policy  that  all  men  are  created  equal." 

Mr.  Bolce  says  that  many  professors  teach  that  the  Declar- 
ation of  Independence  is  a  delusion  and  the  hope  of  equality 
fantastic  and  a  menace  in  a  government  of  the  people.  But  many 
of  them  see  a  great  future  for  America.  Professor  Sumner 
thinks  that  slavery  will  be  reintroduced  when  coal  resources  are 
exhausted.  He  claims  that  steam  power  did  away  with  the  need 
of  slavery.  He  adds  that  we  may  at  any  time,  find  it  expedient 
to  drop  the  jingle  about  "a  government  of  the  people,  by  the 
people,  and  for  the  people." 

When  teachings  like  these  are  given  in  our  institutions  of 
higher  education,  it  is  plain  to  see  that  sooner  or  later  those 
who  are  inoculated  with  such  ideas  gained  in  prominent  univer- 
sities will  clash  with  the  common  people  unused  to  such  disloyalty 
to  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  another  revolution  may 
be  the  result. 


Abraham  Lincoln  109 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE    WEST   POINT    AND   ANNAPOUS    ALUMNI. 
DEFECT  IN  WEST  POINT  STORY. 

"A  free  people  ought  not  only  to  be  armed  but  disciplined,  to 
which  end  a  uniform  and  well  digested  plan  is  requisite." 

— GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

One  fact  was  fully  demonstrated  during  the  Civil  War,  viz: 
That  an  efficient  army  cannot  be  immediately  formed  out  of 
private  citizens  without  previous  thorough  military  training,  and 
led  successfully  against  the  enemy.  It  does  not  matter  how 
patriotic  and  brave  they  may  be.  At  this  time  the  country  was 
comparatively  young,  but  over  fifty  years  have  been  added  to 
its  experience.  Now  every  state  of  a  united  nation  should  co- 
operate with  the  federal  government  and  maintain  an  adequate 
army  and  navy  for  defensive  purposes. 

It  would  be  well  if  our  congressmen  and  presidents  when 
young  had  all  been  given  advantages  of  this  kind.  Prominent 
officials  in  nearly  all  foreign  nations,  especially  on  the  continent 
of  Europe,  have  been  given  military  instructions  when  young. 
If  this  had  been  the  case  here  many  of  our  present  representa- 
tives would  not  display  the  ignorance  they  do  on  this  subject. 

The  presidents  of  Switzerland  are  all  in  accordance  with  the 
provisions  of  the  constitution,  trained  soldiers,  like  other  citzens. 
The  rulers  of  all  European  governments  are  trained  military 
men. 

We  are  not  so  isolated  today  that  we  can  neglect  our  coast 
defenses.  We  are  in  the  same  position  as  the  republic  of  Switzer- 
land, surrounded  by  strong  military  nations,  with  great  fleets  and 
armies,  but  on  a  much  broader  scale.  England,  Germany,  Russia, 
France  and  Japan,  have  large  standing  armies  and  modern  navies, 
which  can  singly  or  in  conjunction  with  one  or  more  nations 
attack  our  unprotected  sea  coasts,  on  the  East  and  West,  or  on 
the  North,  with  England's  consent,  or  on  the  South  by  Mexico's 
willingness  or  assistance. 

We  have  no  army  or  navy  now  of  sufficient  magnitude  to 
protect  the  Panama  Canal,  or  repel  an  attack,  or  defend  our 


110  Abraham  Lincoln 


possessions  on  this  Continent  and  our  outlying  provinces.  Swit- 
zerland has  provided  for  an  adequate  army  in  its  constitution, 
which  in  this  respect  should  be  followed  by  the  United  States. 

West  Point  and  Annapolis  have  in  a  measure,  prepared  in  the 
past,  a  limited  number  of  efficient  military  and  naval  officers,  who 
have  nobly  done  their  part  in  meeting  those  emergencies  which 
have  heretofore  arisen.  But  if  we  had  these  present  training 
schools  duplicated,  we  would  not  have  had  any  too  many  officers 
and  soldiers  to  meet  the  demands  in  the  past  and  a  few  may  have 
reached  Congress  and  even  the  president's  chair  to  the  best  in- 
terests of  the  country. 

In  the  Spanish  War  only  about  one  per  cent  of  shots  fired 
by  our  war  ships  hit  the  mark,  due  to  lack  of  practice.  Even 
the  signal  corps  was  so  deficient  that  our  fleet  fired  on  one  of 
our  ships  coming  from  European  waters.  All  of  which  shows 
our  need  of  trained  officers. 

One  trained  officer  at  the  Naval  Academy,  commands,  drills 
and  makes  perfectly  drilled  men  of  four  or  more  hundred  mid- 
shipmen. As  with  a  chain  letter  we  can  see  what  these  four 
or  more  hundred  men  could  do  with  untrained  men  and  so  each 
year  if  we  graduated  two  thousand  officers,  it  would  be  no  work 
for  them  to  properly  train  thousands  of  men  in  a  few  weeks. 

The  President  is  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  army  and  navy, 
and  if  not  qualified  on  account  of  his  lack  of  experience  and  edu- 
cation in  military  affairs,  to  enable  him  to  successfully  direct 
the  policy  of  the  army  and  navy  in  time  of  war,  should  at  least 
appoint  an  experienced  General  as  Secretary  of  War  and  an  able 
Admiral  as  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

President  Lincoln,  with  all  his  natural  ability  and  good  judg- 
ment was  not  able  to  defeat  the  Confederate  Army  until  he 
finally  succeeded  in  finding  in  Gen.  U.  S.  Grant,  a  competent 
acting  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  entire  Union  Army.  Stanton, 
although  not  a  military  expert,  was  able  eventually  after  several 
years  of  experience  to  act  judiciously  and  properly  as  Secretary 
of  War. 

Our  President  and  Governors,  state  Legislatures  and  Con- 
gressmen, may  study  out  and  enact  laws,  draft  constitutional 
amendments  and  make  treaties,  but  all  their  work  will  be  power- 
less without  an  efficient  organized  military  force  to  compel  com- 
pliance with  these  laws  and  treaties. 

A  constitution  of  the  United  States  would  be  like  a  morning 
mist,  or  a  bunch  of  straw,  and  treaties  like  writings  on  the  sand, 
"scraps  of  paper,"  were  there  no  strong  army  and  navy  to  enforce 
these  laws  and  treaties  if  defied  by  a  foreign  or  domestic  foe. 

The  respect  that  other  nations  have  for  our  territory,  our 
assumed  Monroe  doctrine,  and  our  treaty  obligations,  will  be 


Abraham  Lincoln  111 


ignored  in  this  age,  by  other  nations,  if  interfering  with  their 
plans,  were  we  unable  to  maintain  our  ground  by  force. 

The  war  of  1812,  the  Mexican  War,  the  Civil  War  and  the 
Spanish  War  were  not  settled  by  the  statesmen  in  Congress,  who 
did  much  to  bring  about  the  Civil  War,  but  by  the  trained  officers 
in  the  army  and  navy  who  were  trained  at  West  Point  and  Ann- 
apolis. 

It  was  U.  S.  Grant  at  Vicksburg,  who  had  his  training  at 
West  Point,  in  1843,  along  with  his  fellow  alumni  Gen.  W.  T. 
Sherman  (1840),  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith  (1838),  Gen.  James  B.  Mc- 
Pherson  (1851),  assisted  by  Rear- Admiral  David  B.  Porter,  who 
became  midshipman  of  the  navy  in  1829,  and  Admiral  Farragut, 
who  together  with  other  Union  officers  and  soldiers  captured  the 
city  and  fortifications  and  opened  up  the  Mississippi  river  to  the 
Union  Army. 

It  was  Gen.  George  B.  Meade,  graduate  of  West  Point  in 
(1835),  who  led  the  Union  forces  at  Gettysburg,  with  Gen.  John 
F.  Reynolds  (1841),  killed  at  the  commencement  of  the  battle, 
Gen.  Winfield  Scott  Hancock  (1854),  Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  (an 
attorney,  afterwards  president),  Gen.  Daniel  E.  Sickles  (an  at- 
torney), Gen.  John  Sedgwick  (1837),  Gen.  Henry  W.  Slocum 
(1852),  Gen.  George  Sykes  (1842),  Gen.  Oliver  O.  Howard 
(1854),  Gen.  Carl  Schurz  a  noted  German  who  came  to  Amer- 
ica in  (1852)  with  many  other  Union  officers  and  soldiers,  who 
encountered  the  well  trained  forces  of  Gen.  Robt.  E.  Lee  (1829), 
at  Gettysburg,  when  the  great  decisive  battle  was  fought  that 
decided  the  war,  the  Confederate  army  being  defeated  and  forced 
back  to  the  Potomac  river. 

It  was  General  George  B.  McClellan,  a  graduate  of  West 
Point  (1846)  who  took  part  in  the  Mexican  War  and  who  later 
succeeded  in  organizing  and  training  one  of  the  finest  armies  in 
the  United  States,  which  was  able  eventually  to  conquer,  under 
Grant,  Sherman,  and  other  Generals,  the  efficient  army  of  Gen- 
eral Robert  E.  Lee,  and  finally  capture  Richmond,  the  capitol 
of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  and  terminating  the  war. 

Oliver  H.  Perry  received  his  commission  as  midshipman  in 
1796.  His  victory  on  Lake  Erie,  September  10,  1813,  is  well 
known.  He  secured  a  vast  territory  for  the  United  States.  Mat- 
thew Calbraith  Perry  became  midshipman  in  1809.  His  expedi- 
tion to  Japan  is  well  known,  (1853)  and  he  opened  that  country 
to  the  commerce  of  the  world. 

It  was  Admiral  David  G.  Farragut  who  entered  the  navy  at 
the  age  of  nine  years  in  1810,  under  the  protection  of  his  name 
father,  then  Captain  David  Porter,  who  was  appointed  to  the 
command  of  the  Western  Gulf  Black  Sea  Squadron,  and  reduced 
the  defenses  guarding  the  approach  of  New  Orleans,  taking  pos- 


112  Abraham  Lincoln 


session  of  that  city  April  29,  1862.  He  also  subsequently  took 
possession  of  the  port  of  Mobile,  August  5th,  1864. 

It  was  Samuel  Francis  Du  Pont,  appointed  a  midshipman  in 
the  United  States  Navy,  December  19th,  181 5,  who  was  given 
command  of  the  South  Atlantic  Squadron,  and  captured  Forts 
Walker  and  Beauregard  in  1862. 

John  Adolph  Dahlgren  entered  the  navy  and  passed  midship- 
man in  1832  and  was  made  Rear-Admiral  in  1863,  and  was 
placed  in  charge  of  the  South  Atlantic  blockading  squadron.  He 
conducted  naval  operations  at  Charleston  Harbor  and  aided  Gen- 
eral W.  T.  Sherman  in  his  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  expedi- 
tions. 

Admiral  George  Dewey  who  graduated  at  Annapolis  in  1858, 
achieved  distinction  and  accomplished  much  for  the  United  States 
during  the  Civil  War  and  the  Spanish  War.  He  was  a  Lieuten- 
ant on  the  "Mississippi"  and  was  with  the  West  Gulf  Squadron 
in  1862.  In  1863  he  was  at  Donaldsonville  on  a  gunboat  and  at 
Fort  Fisher  in  1864  and  1865  on  the  "Agawam."  He  served 
two  years  on  the  Kearsarge  and  the  Colorado  and  two  years  at 
the  Naval  Academy.  In  1884  he  took  charge  of  the  Dolphin  in 
1884  the  Pensacola,  in  1896  he  was  made  commodore  and  in 
1898  took  charge  of  the  Atlantic  Squadron.  In  1898  he  dis- 
troyed  the  Spanish  Squadron  in  Manila  Bay.  He  was  promoted 
to  Rear-Admiral  and  in  1899  made  Admiral  of  the  United  States 
Navy. 

The  United  States  Academy  at  West  Point  was  established  in 
1802. 

Many  of  the  actors  in  the  Mexican  War,  the  War  of  1812, 
and  the  great  tragedy  of  the  Civil  War,  learned  their  parts  at 
West  Point,  in  the  navy,  in  the  state  legislatures  and  the  United 
States  congress. 

It  was  Robert  E.  Lee,  a  graduate  of  West  Point  in  1829,  who 
with  other  fellow  alumni,  including  U.  S.  Grant  and  Geo.  B. 
McClellan,  S.  B.  Buckner,  (1840)  Confederate,  Joseph  Hooker, 
graduating  Thomas  J.  Jackson,  known  as  Stonewall  Jackson 
(1846),  Confederate,  took  part  in  the  Mexican  War,  Jefferson 
Davis,  Joseph  E.  Johnston  (1829),  Confederate,  took  part  in  the 
Mexican  War.  Palmerton,  Sherman,  Braxton  Bragg  (1837), 
Confederate,  who  took  part  in  the  Mexican  War  of  1845  and 
1848,  and  through  this  War  succeeded  in  adding  to  the  terri- 
torial possessions  of  the  United  States,  Texas,  in  1845,  California 
and  New  Mexico  in  1848. 

Two  of  the  principal  generals  however,  who  took  part  in  this 
war  did  not  study  at  West  Point,  namely  Gen.  Winfield  Scott, 
who  was  a  student  at  William  and  Mary  College  in  1805;  and 
General  Zachary  Taylor  who  did  not  receive  a  college  education. 


Abraham  Lincoln  113 


Nearly  all  the  generals  and  other  prominent  officers  in  the 
rebel  army  were  graduates  of  West  Point. 

Gen.  P.  G.  T.  Beauregard  (1836,  Confederate),  was  Superin- 
tendent of  the  U.  S.  Military  Academy  of  West  Point  when  he 
resigned  and  joined  the  Confederate  Army.  General  Lee  was 
also  at  one  time  at  the  head  of  West  Point. 

Admiral  W.  S.  Schley  (i860,  midshipman),  and  Admiral  W. 
T.  Sampson  (Annapolis,  i860),  took  part  in  the  Spanish  War. 
Among  others,  who  might  be  added  to  this  list  of  accomplished 
military  leaders  are  the  following:  General  Nathaniel  Lyon 
(1841),  Albert  Sidney  Johnston  (1836),  Nelson  A.  Miles,  who 
entered  the  army  in  1861,  George  A.  Custer  (1861),  Benjamin 
F.  Butler  (attorney),  George  C.  Pickett  (1846),  James  Long- 
street  (1842),  James  Hooker  (1857),  George  H.  Thomas  (1840), 

A.  G.  Burnside  (1841),  H.  W.  Halleck  (1832),  John  Pope 
(1842),  W.  S.  Rosecrans  (1842),  Philip  H.  Sheridan  (1858),  J. 

B.  Hood  (1853).  General  John  C.  Fremont  was  not  a  graduate 
of  West  Point  but  was  a  short  time  in  navy,  commander  in  Mis- 
souri, 1661,  etc. 

Lord  High  Chancellor  Haldane  says  the  "Training  System  in 
the  United  States  is  far  superior  to  that  given  in  Great  Britain  f 
in  an  article  printed  in  Sunday's  Examiner  of  August  30th  1913. 
"To  come  over  here  and  see  the  liberal  manner  in  which  Con- 
gress provides  for  the  education  of  the  Nation's  military  officers 
is  enough  to  make  the  mouth  of  an  English  War  Minister  water." 
Such  was  his  comment  after  he  had  today  inspected  the  United 
States  Military  Academy  buildings  and  grounds  and  witnessed 
the  maneuvers  of  the  cadet  corps.  He  was  welcomed  by  a  salute 
of  nineteen  guns.  "This  visit  to  West  Point,"  said  Lord  Hal- 
dane, brings  me  back  to  my  old  occupation.  During  the  six  and 
one-half  years  that  I  served  as  Secretary  of  State  for  War  I 
made  a  study  of  the  West  Point  Military  Academy.  I  have  no 
hesitation  in  telling  you  that  the  system  here  of  training  officers 
of  all  branches  of  the  service  together  is  far  superior  to  our  plan 
of  specialization  when  the  cadets  enter  the  academies  of  Sand- 
hurst and  Woolwich." 


WEST  POINT  FOR  EACH   STATE  IS  NOW   PROJECTED. 

Washington,  Jan.  14,  19 16. — The  establishment  of  a  semi-mili- 
tary school  in  each  state  at  which  a  certain  number  of  young  men 
will  be  given  academic  and  military  education  at  the  expense  of 
the  state  and  federal  government  is  the  subject  of  a  series  of 
meetings  of  the  House  Military  Affairs  Committee,  which  began 
today. 


114  Abraham  Lincoln 


The  plan  is  outlined  in  a  bill  introduced  by  Representative  Mc- 
Kellar  of  Tennessee.  It  is  favored  by  Chairman  Hay  of  the 
committee  and  it  is  understood  the  War  Department  will  urge  its 
passage. 

The  purpose  of  the  bill  is  to  provide  plenty  of  trained  army 
officers.  The  three-year  course  at  the  schools  is  to  be  modeled 
on  the  course  at  West  Point.  The  students  will  be  chosen  by  the 
county  and  state  school  authorities,  the  only  condition  being  that 
they  agree  to  hold  themselves  subject  to  the  call  of  the  President 
to  active  military  service  for  a  period  of  seven  years  after  gradu- 
ation. 

The  government  will  contribute  $80,000  a  year  to  each  school 
providing  the  state  contributes  $40,000.  In  addition  the  federal 
government  will  provide  uniforms,  field  equipment  and  military 
instructions. 


WEST    POINT    BILL    PASSED. — LAST    BUT    ONE    OP    APPROPRIATION 

MEASURES   GIVEN   O.    K.   BY   HOUSE  APTER  BRIEF 

POLITICAL  DEBATE. 

Washington,  D.  C,  June  29,  1916. — The  last  but  one  of  the 
annual  supply  measures,  the  military  academy  appropriation  bill, 
carrying  $1,216,761,  was  passed  today  by  the  house.  It  was  made 
the  vehicle  of  a  brief  political  debate.  Only  the  general  deficiency 
bill  remains  to  be  considered  in  the  house. 


MARVELOUS  CRAPT  IS  BEING  DEVELOPED,  SAYS  HEAD  OP  NAVY  CON- 
SULTING BOARD. 

New  York,  July  22. — "I  have  reason  to  believe  that  within  the 
next  six  months  a  giant  Zeppelin  will  fly  across  the  sea  from  Ber- 
lin and  land  in  New  York  City,"  Howard  E.  Coffin,  chairman  of 
the  naval  consulting  board's  committee  on  industrial  preparedness 
and  former  president  of  the  American  Engineering  society,  said 
today. 

"Unquestionably  it  was  the  arrival  of  the  submarine  at  Balti- 
more that  scared  congress  into  appropriating  millions  for  army 
and  navy  development,"  he  declared.  "The  quicker  the  Zeppelin 
arrives  the  better,  for  it  will  scare  us  into  more  preparedness." 


Abraham  Lincoln  115 


PREDICTS   GREAT   AERIAL   ARMY. 

"The  $20,000,000  congress  has  given  for  aerial  development  is 
a  tremendous  step  forward.  With  this  encouragement  we  engi- 
neers are  starting  to  standardize  and  develop  aerial  development 
in  the  United  States.  Our  manufacturers  are  ready  to  pour  mil- 
lions into  the  industry. 

"Within  three  years  the  United  States  will  have  an  aerial  army 
Europe  cannot  begin  to  equal.  Within  two  years  great  passen- 
ger carrying  airships  will  follow  air  routes  all  over  the  country. 
American  industries  can  be  coordinated  and  standardized.  Eu- 
rope's cannot.  Europe's  aerial  development  has  been  neither 
healthy  nor  normal.  It  has  been  too  feverish.  The  fact  that 
they  are  fighting  among  themselves  prevents  standardization. 

HINTS  AT  MARVELOUS  CRAFT. 

"I  could  take  you  to  a  field  within  a  few  minutes'  ride  and 
show  you  a  fighting  aeroplane  that  outstrips  anything  the  Euro- 
peans have  dreamed  of.  It  has  a  secret  automatic  control,  by 
which  it  can  be  started  in  the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan,  skim 
the  surface  for  a  given  number  of  miles,  automatically  rise  to  a 
given  height,  go  a  prearranged  and  exact  distance  in  one  or 
several  directions,  and  automatically  alight  at  a  given  point  in 
Texas  or  elsewhere.  This  type  of  aeroplane  will  be  developed 
into  the  self-directing  aerial  torpedo. 

"We  will  have  dirigibles  of  the  Zeppelin  type  Germany  never 
will  have.  A  fleet  of  automatically  controlled  aeroplanes  with 
machine  guns  mounted  on  them  and  timed  to  begin  their  charge 
after  going  hundreds  of  miles  to  find  the  enemy  without  the  pres- 
ence of  a  single  pilot  is  an  imminent  probability. 

"The  aerial  development  may  mean  the  difference  between  vic- 
tory and  defeat  for  us.    We  are  getting  started." 


Abraham  Lincoln  117 


CHAPTER  XI 
PROCLAMATION  OF  EMANCIPATION. 

PROCLAMATION  OF  EMANCIPATION  WHEN  OTHER  COUNTRIES  ABOL- 
ISHED SLAVERY.      MEXICAN  WAR  TO  EXTEND  SLAVERY  IN  SOUTH. 

The  preliminary  Proclamation  of  Emancipation  was  published 
September  22,  1862,  three  days  after  the  withdrawal  of  General 
Lee  into  Virginia,  and  was  communicated  to  the  army  officially 
on  September  24th.  The  proclamation  took  effect  Jan.  1,  1863. 
Although  the  President  had  practically  decided  upon  the  main 
features  of  the  Proclamation,  he  nevertheless  called  several  meet- 
ings of  his  cabinet,  and  submitted  first  the  preliminary  proclama- 
tion, September  22,  1862,  and  then  the  final  draft  of  the  Proc- 
lamation, December  30,  1862.  He  asked  each  member  to  write 
out  his  opinion  and  submit  the  same  to  him.  This  was  done  by 
Mr.  Chase,  Mr.  Bates,  Mr.  Wells,  Mr.  Blair,  and  Mr.  Seward. 
Messrs.  Nicolay  and  Hay  state,  "In  writing  the  Proclamation 
Mr.  Lincoln,  in  substance,  followed  the  suggestions  made  by 
the  several  members  of  the  cabinet  as  to  mere  verbal  improve- 
ments, but  in  regard  to  the  two  important  changes  which  had 
been  proposed  he  adhered  rigidly  to  his  own  draft." 

British  subjects  were  prohibited  from  owning  slaves  in  Amer- 
ica or  elsewhere.  Russia  and  the  United  States  were  the  last 
of  the  civilized  nations,  with  the  exception  of  Brazil,  which  sub- 
sequently followed  suit,  to  abolish  serfdom  and  slavery. 

In  Lincoln's  speech  delivered  May  19,  1856,  he  said:  "On  the 
second  day  of  July  1776,  a  draft  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence was  reported  to  Congress  by  the  committee,  and  in  it 
the  slave  trade  was  characterized  as  an  'execrable  commerce/ 
as  a  'piratical  warfare,'  as  a  'cruel  war  against  human  nature.'  All 
agreed  on  this  except  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  and  in  order 
to  preserve  harmony,  and  from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  these 
expressions  were  omitted." 

The  people  of  the  slave  states  had  the  same  privilege  as  those 
of  the  free  states  to  move  into  and  settle  in  Kansas.  The  former 
could  have  done  their  own  work,  like  the  latter  who  did  not 
depend  upon  slave  labor,  or  could  have  hired  other  men  to  work 
for  them.    At  that  date  slavery  had  been  eliminated  from  nearly 


118  Abraham  Lincoln 


all  of  the  civilized  nations  and  was  considered  a  relic  of  bar- 
barism. There  was  no  customary,  moral,  constitutional,  or  nat- 
ural right  for  any  set  of  men  to  insist  on  introducing  slavery  into 
a  new  state  or  territory  because  slave  owners  wished  to  move 
into  it,  any  more  than  that  they  should  claim  a  right  to  take  their 
slaves  into  British  possessions  or  into  Mexico,  if  they  wished 
to  live  there. 

Lincoln  was  not  descended  from  a  race  of  tyrants,  nor  were 
his  parents  slave  owners.  His  mother  had  not  been  raised  in  an 
environment  of  luxury  and  taught  to  look  down  upon  a  less  for- 
tunate neighbor;  nor  was  his  father's  name  linked  with  disloyal 
plots,  or  schemes  to  pervert  justice  and  the  good  of  his  country- 
men, as  were  many  of  the  fathers  of  the  leaders  of  the  rebellion. 
He  was  an  industrious  man  and  did  not  rely  upon  slave  labor 
to  support  him  and  his  family. 

The  War  of  the  rebellion  was  in  one  sense,  and  for  the  same 
purpose,  a  continuation  of  the  war  with  Mexico,  namely:  the 
acquisition  of  territory  for  the  slaveholding  states.  Many  of  the 
leading  men  of  the  South  advocated  and  engaged  in  the  latter 
war,  including  Jefferson  Davis  and  Robert  E.  Lee,  General  Zach- 
ary  Taylor,  and  other  southerners  who  subsequently  fought  in  the 
rebel  ranks.  Not  satisfied  with  gaining  area  in  Texas  for  slavery, 
the  slave  states  were  determined  to  extend  their  cherished  insti- 
tution into  the  territories  west  of  the  Mississippi  River.  The  op- 
ponents of  slavery  extension  had  insisted  in  Congress  upon 
attaching  the  Wilmot  proviso,  to  a  bill  to  appropriate  three  mil- 
lion dollars  in  order  to  settle  the  treaty  with  Mexico.  This 
proviso  in  the  language  quoted  from  the  ordinance  of  1787  pro- 
hibited slavery.  It  was  voted  down,  however,  by  a  vote  of  102 
to  97. 

William  H.  Seward  said  in  regard  to  the  Mexican  War:  "I 
sincerely  hope  that  the  experience  of  the  President  may  instruct 
his  successors  for  many  years  to  come  that  war  for  slavery  is 
behind  the  spirit  of  the  age."  It  was  well  understood  in  Wash- 
ington that  this  was  the  object  of  the  Mexican  War,  which  war 
Abraham  Lincoln,  when  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  con- 
tinually opposed. 

Although  Seward  did  not  make  Abraham  Lincoln  President,  he 
used  all  his  talent  and  strength  in  maintaining  him  in  his  endeavor 
to  overcome  the  power  of  the  South  in  its  endeavor,  not  only  to 
make  permanent  in  the  Southern  States  the  institution  of  slavery, 
but  to  destroy  the  government  itself. 


Abraham  Lincoln  119 


JEFFERSON  DAVIS,  AMBITION. 

The  great  ambition  of  Jefferson  Davis  who  became  president 
of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  was  to  form  an  oligarchical  gov- 
ernment in  which  the  people  were  not  to  be  directly  represented, 
but  with  its  powers  vested  in  the  slave  aristocracy  of  the  South. 
This  empire  would  include  the  immense  state  of  Texas  and 
large  tracts  of  territory  gained  through  the  Mexican  War,  exist- 
ing southern  states,  containing  land  purchased  by  the  United 
States  from  Napoleon,  and  as  much  more  territory  as  could  be 
forced  from  the  United  States. 

All  traces  of  democracy  would  have  been  eliminated  from  the 
constitution  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  and  the  only  really 
free  and  independent  citizens  qualified  to  participate  in  the 
government  would  have  been  the  privileged  slave-holding  class 
and  their  followers. 

France  would  have  maintained  its  hold  on  Mexico  and  estab- 
lished a  little  monarchy,  perhaps  divided  up  into  several  other 
kingdoms.  The  Monroe  Doctrine  completely  superseded,  the 
power  and  supremacy  of  the  United  States  would  have  been 
seriously  curtailed,  and  the  cause  of  liberty  weakened  through- 
out the  world. 

During  the  Pierce  and  Buchanan  administrations,  the  Southern 
leaders  had  full  sway  in  the  affairs  of  government  at  Washington, 
and  they  were  continually  plotting  for  one  object,  which  was  for 
the  aggrandizement  and  extension  of  the  slave  power  of  the  South. 
Such  were  John  B.  Floyd,  Secretary  of  War;  Howell  Cobb, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  Jacob  Thompson,  Secretary  of  the 
Interior;  and  Jefferson  Davis,  representing  Mississippi  in  the 
United  States  Senate. 


THE  NORTHERN  LEADERS  STOOD  FOR  LIBERTY  AND  UNION. 

While  these  men  and  their  co-conspirators  were  busy  plotting 
the  over-throw  of  the  Republic,  Wm.  H.  Seward,  Salmon  P. 
Chase,  Edwin  W.  Stanton,  Lyman  Trumbull  in  Washington  and 
Abraham  Lincoln  in  Illinois  were  carefully  watching  them,  and 
preparing  to  meet  and  resist  their  schemes. 

Salmon  P.  Chase  and  Wm.  H.  Seward,  as  well  as  Abraham 
Lincoln,  were  not  afraid  to  show  their  strong  opposition  to  the 
barbaric  system  of  slavery,  which  had  been  out-grown  and  elimi- 
nated from  nearly  all  other  civilized  nations. 

Seward  and  Chase  both  defended  Van  Zant,  a  poor  farmer, 
who  had  loaned  his  wagon  and  team  to  some  wretched  negroes 
who  were  trying  to  escape  from  slavery  and  the  boasted  republic 


120  Abraham  Lincoln 


to  Canada  where  every  man  was  protected  in  his  liberty.  All 
the  negroes  escaped  but  one,  and  his  master  sued  Van  Zant  for 
$1200,  the  value  of  the  slave,  and  got  a  judgment.  The  suit  was 
confirmed  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  spite 
of  the  able  arguments  of  Chase  and  Seward.  This  judgment  Van 
Zant  was  unable  to  pay  and  it  practically  ruined  him.  Mrs. 
Harriet  B.  Stowe  portrayed  John  Van  Zant  under  the  name  of 
John  Van  Trompe  in  her  story  of  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin." 

Stanton,  Holt,  and  Dix  in  Buchanan's  cabinet  were  loyal  to 
the  Union.  Seward  stood  by  the  government  and  acted  continu- 
ally in  harmony  with  Lincoln  even  before  he  reached  Washington. 
He  made  his  famous  speech  in  favor  of  the  Union,  January  12, 
1861. 

He  said,  "Union  is  no  more  the  body  than  liberty  is  the  soul 
of  the  nation.  The  American  citizen  has  been  accustomed  to 
believe  the  republic  immortal.  He  shrinks  from  the  sight  of  con- 
vulsions, indicative  of  sudden  death."  He  said  also,  "I  there- 
fore follow  the  example  of  the  noble  senator  from  Tennessee, 
Mr.  Andrew  Johnson,  and  avow  my  adherence  to  the  Union  in 
its  integrity,  and  with  all  its  parts,  with  my  friends,  with  my 
party,  with  my  state,  with  my  country,  or  without  either,  as 
they  may  determine:  in  every  event,  whether  of  peace,  or  war, 
with  every  consequence  of  honor,  or  dishonor,  of  life,  or  death." 

Grover  Cleveland,  in  his  "Life  of  Alexander  H.  Stephens,"  pp. 
721-723,  states  that  when  Stephens  was  chosen  vice-president,  he 
explained  the  grounds  of  secession ;  after  referring  to  Thomas  H. 
Jefferson  who  said  that:  "The  prevailing  ideas  entertained  by 
him  and  most  of  the  leading  statesmen  of  the  time  of  the  forma- 
tion of  the  old  constitution  were,  that  the  enslavement  of  the 
African  was  in  violation  of  the  laws  of  nature ;  that  it  was  wrong 
in  principle,,  socially,  morally,  and  politically" — "our  government" 
said  Stephens  (The  Southern  Confederacy)  "is  founded  upon  ex- 
actly the  opposite  idea;  its  foundations  are  laid,  its  corner  stone 
rests  upon  the  great  truth  that  the  negro  is  not  equal  to  the 
white  man;  that  slavery — subordination  to  the  superior  race,  is 
his  natural  and  normal  condition.  This,  our  new  government,  is 
the  first  (and  he  might  have  added,  the  last)  in  the  history  of 
the  world  based  upon  this  great  physical,  philosophical  and 
moral  truth." 


OTHER  NATIONS  ABOUSH   SLAVERY. 

On  the  20th  day  of  August,  1833,  England  abolished  slavery 
throughout  the  British  colonies.  (3rd  and  4th  William  IV.) 
and  $20,000,000  was  granted  by  Parliament  as  an  indemnity,  to 


Abraham  Lincoln  121 


the  slave  proprietors  and  other  pecuniary  sufferers  by  this  act. 
790,280  slaves  being  freed.  This  was  accomplished  without 
bloodshed  or  rebellion  on  the  part  of  slave  owners.  If  the  United 
States  had  remained  a  British  colony,  this  act  would  also  have 
freed  the  slaves  within  their  borders. 

The  Emperor  of  Austria  issued  a  decree  utterly  abolishing 
slavery  throughout  his  dominion.  "Every  man,"  said  his  Majesty, 
"by  the  right  of  nature  sanctioned  by  reason,  must  be  considered 
a  free  person.  Every  slave  becomes  free  the  moment  he  treads 
the  Austrian  soil,  or  even  an  Austrian  ship."  This  should  be 
written  in  the  United  States  Constitution.  On  the  18th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1829  Guerrero,  as  president  of  Mexico,  issued  a  decree 
abolishing  slavery  forever  in  the  Republic  of  Mexico.  The  United 
States,  however,  which  claimed  to  be  a  democratic  government 
and  boasted  of  its  liberty  to  the  world,  inviting  the  citizens  of 
foreign  nations  to  her  soil  in  order  to  obtain  the  blessings  of 
liberty,  did  not  abolish  slavery  and  the  commerce  in  human  bodies, 
until  after  a  great  civil  war,  culminating  in  1865.  The  Proclama- 
tion of  Emancipation,  however,  was  issued  previous  to  this,  Jan- 
uary 1,  1863. 

On  October  9,  1807,  the  King  of  Prussia  decreed,  from  Mar- 
timas,  1810,  ceases  all  serfdom  in  our  states.  There  shall  be 
only  free  persons." 

The  King  of  Prussia  permitted  the  peasants  and  burghers  to 
buy  land  of  the  nobles  which  they  could  not  have  done  before. 

The  government  of  Brazil  abolished  the  slave  trade  March  1, 
1830. 

November,  1803,  Santo  Domingo  changed  its  name  to  Hayti, 
and  declared  its  independence  and  abolished  slavery. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  first  Constitutional  assembly  of- 
Guatemala  was  the  abolition  of  slavery.  All  of  the  following 
countries  agreed  to  the  abolition  of  slave  trade :  Denmark,  Aug. 
1804;  Portugal,  Jan.  31,  1823;  France,  Apr.  1815;  Spain,  Oct. 
31,  1820;  The  Netherlands,  Aug.  14,  1814;  Sweden,  March  5, 
1 81 3.  Although  the  United  States  maintained  slavery  as  one 
of  the  legal  institutions  of  the  country,  it  did  agree,  by  the  treaty 
of  Ghent,  Dec.  24,  1814,  to  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade. 

In  1861,  Alexander  II.,  emancipated  nearly  forty-seven  million 
souls,  amounting  to  four-fifths  of  the  population  of  the  Russian 
Empire.  He  assigned  land  to  them  which  he  arbitrarily  took  from 
the  nobles  to  pay  for  annually  or  lease.  The  Czar  paid  the 
noble  landlords  for  these  lands  and  then  sold  them  to  the  serfs 
on  forty  years'  time. 

It  was  two  years  after  this  act  of  emancipation  on  the  part  of 
the  Czar,  that  the  President  of  the  United  States,  Abraham 
Lincoln,  issued  the  emancipation  proclamation  which  liberated 


122  Abraham  Lincoln 


the  slaves  in  the  Republic  of  the  United  States.  This  was  is- 
sued September  22,  1862. 

Jefferson  Davis,  who  asserted  that  he  was  simply  exercising 
his  rights  to  maintain  the  independence  of  the  South  under  the 
Constitution  and  the  right  to  maintain  slavery,  retaliated  against 
this  action  of  the  President  by  ordering  that  all  those  who  prac- 
tically put  into  effect  the  decree  of  the  proclamation  of  eman- 
cipation should  be  regarded  as  criminals  and  treated  as  such. 

When  we  compare  Jefferson  Davis  with  the  Czar  of  Russia, 
it  is  plain  to  see  which  of  the  two  men  was  the  most  despotic 
ruler  at  this  critical  period  in  the  world's  history. 


HOW  CZAR  ALEXANDER  IJBERATED  THE  SERFS. 

In  the  History  of  Russia  written  by  Alfred  Rambaud,  we  find 
the  following  reference  to  the  Czar's  ukase  liberating  the  serfs. 

Czar  Alexander  II.,  in  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-nine,  called 
a  chief  committee,  composed  of  twelve  persons,  over  which  he 
presided  during  its  first  sessions.  He  afterwards  resigned  the 
presidency  to  Prince  Alexis  Orlof.  This  committee,  in  con- 
junction with  some  of  the  provincial  committees,  more  than  once 
opposed  passive  resistance  to  the  beneficent  schemes  of  the  sov- 
ereign. The  Emperor  went  through  the  provinces,  appealing  to 
the  conciliatory  spirit  and  devotion  of  his  nobility,  reprimanding 
those  who  hung  back,  and  reminding  them  that  "reforms  came 
better  from  above  than  below."  To  subdue  the  resistance  of  the 
superior  committee,  he  created  another  to  which  the  old  one  was 
subordinated,  and  which  he  packed  with  men  devoted  to  the  new 
idea. 

The  new  "imperial  commission"  did  not  content  itself  with 
elaborating  the  materials  furnished  by  the  provincial  committees. 
Directly  inspired  by  the  Emperor,  who  sent  them  his  papers  on 
"the  progress  and  issue  of  the  peasant  question,"  they  took  into 
their  own  hands  all  the  points  of  legislation,  by  which  course 
they  ran  the  risk  of  throwing  into  opposition  many  proprietors 
who  were  well  disposed,  but  who  complained  that  they  had  never 
been  consulted,  and  that  the  commission  seemed  desirous  of  de- 
priving them  of  the  merit  of  their  sacrifices.  The  commission 
gradually  gave  to  the  reform  a  more  and  more  radical  character. 
It  admitted  the  principle  that  the  emancipation  should  not  take 
place  gradually,  but  that  the  law  should  insure  the  immediate 
abolition  of  serfdom;  that  the  most  effectual  measures  should  be 
taken  to  prevent  the  re-establishment  of  the  seigniorial  authority 
under  other  forms,  by  a  liberal  organization  of  the  rural  com- 
munes; and  that  the  peasant  should  become  a  proprietor  on  the 


Abraham  Lincoln  123 


payment  of  an  indemnity.  From  these  deliberations  resulted  the 
new  law,  announced  by  the  manifesto  of  the  nineteenth  of  Febru- 
ary, or  3rd  of  March,  1861,  according  to  the  New  Style. 

The  fundamental  principles  of  the  new  legislation  may  be 
summed  up  thus :  The  peasants  hitherto  attached  to  the  soil  were 
to  be  invested  with  all  the  rights  of  free  cultivators.  The  peas- 
ants, in  consideration  of  certain  quit-rents  fixed  by  law,  should 
obtain  the  full  enjoyment  of  their  enclosure  or  dvor,  and  also 
a  certain  quantity  of  arable  land,  sufficient  to  make  certain  the 
accomplishment  of  their  obligations  towards  the  state.  It  was 
provided  that  this  "permanent  enjoyment,"  or  usufruct,  might 
be  exchanged  for  an  "absolute  ownership"  of  the  enclosure  and 
the  lands,  on  the  payment  of  purchase-money.  The  lords  were 
to  grant  the  peasants  or  the  rural  communes  the  land  actually 
occupied  by  the  latter;  in  each  district,  however,  a  maximum 
and  a  minimum  were  to  be  fixed.  On  the  whole,  there  was  an 
average  of  three  desiatins  and  a  half,  or  more  than  nine  English 
acres,  for  each  male  peasant;  but  it  varied  from  one  desiatin  to 
twelve ;  that  is  to  say,  the  peasants  in  general  received  less  in  the 
Black  Land,  and  more  in  the  less  productive  zones.  The  govern- 
ment was  to  organize  a  system  of  loans,  which  would  permit  the 
peasants  immediately  to  liberate  themselves  from  their  lords, 
though  they  would  remain  debtors  to  the  state.  The  dvorovuie, 
who  were  neither  attached  to  the  soil,  nor  members  of  the  com- 
mune, were  to  receive  only  their  personal  liberty,  after  they  had 
served  their  masters  for  two  years.  To  bring  the  great  work  of 
partition  into  seigniorial  and  peasant  lands  to  a  happy  conclusion, 
to  regulate  the  amount  of  the  dues,  the  conditions  of  re-purchase, 
and  all  the  questions  which  might  arise  from  the  execution  of 
the  law,  the  temporary  magistracy  of  the  mirovuie  posredniki,  or 
mediators  of  peace,  was  instituted,  who  showed  themselves  for 
the  most  part  honest,  patient,  impartial,  equitable,  and  who  de- 
served a  great  part  of  the  honor  of  this  pacific  settlement. 

The  peasants,  freed  from  the  authority  of  their  former  masters, 
were  organized  into  communes;  or,  rather,  the  commune,  the 
mir,  which  is  the  primordial  and  antique  element  of  Slavo-Russian 
society  acquired  a  new  force.  It  inherited  the  right  of  police  and 
of  surveillance,  held  by  the  lord  over  his  subjects ;  it  administered 
and  judged  with  more  liberty  the  suits  of  the  peasants.  In  ac- 
cordance with  the  ancient  Slav  law,  the  land  bought  from  the 
lord  remained  the  common  property  of  all  the  members  of  the 
mir :  each  peasant  held  as  his  private  property  only  his  enclosure 
and  the  land  thereto  pertaining.  Arable  lands  are  subject,  at 
more  or  less  frequent  intervals,  to  partition  among  the  heads  of 
families,  and  are  possessed  by  them  only  by  way  of  usufruct. 
The  law,  which  does  not  permit  a  final  partition  of  the  common 


124  Abraham  Lincoln 


land,  except  when  two  thirds  of  those  interested  consent,  will  long 
maintain  against  the  destructive  action  of  new  manners  and  new 
wants  this  old  European  institution,  which  in  Western  countries 
has  disappeared  for  centuries,  in  France  especially,  and  has  left 
no  trace,  other  than  in  so-called  communal  properties.  The  com- 
munes, freed  from  the  control  of  the  lords,  were  grouped,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  imperial  domains,  into  volosti,  or  districts  having 
from  three  hundred  to  two  thousand  male  members;  a  volost 
tribunal  received  the  appeal  from  the  communal  justices,  and  a 
volost  municipality  was  charged  to  watch  over  the  common  in- 
terests of  all  the  villages  under  its  jurisdiction.  The  mayor  of 
the  commune  was  called  starosta;  the  head  of  the  volost  was 
called  starshina,  and  was  made  responsible  for  the  peace  and 
order  of  the  community.  The  Russian  peasants  were  thus  given 
a  complete  system  of  local  self-government,  of  an  absolutely 
rural  character,  for  the  former  lord  was  strenuously  kept  apart 
from  it.  Since  his  ancient  domain  had  been  divided  into  seign- 
iorial and  peasant  lands  he  ceased  legally  to  be  an  inhabitant  of 
the  village.  His  interests  being  perfectly  distinct  from  those  of 
the  peasants,  he  was  forbidden  to  meddle  either  with  them,  their 
elections,  their  administration,  or  their  justice. 

The  great  emancipation  measure  was,  in  fact,  a  dissolution  of 
partnership  between  masters  and  peasants.  It  imposed  sacrifices 
on  both  the  interested  parties. 


EMANCIPATION    PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas,  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  September,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-two,  a  proc- 
lamation was  issued  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  con- 
taining, among  other  things,  the  following,  to  wit: 

That  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  all  persons  held  as  slaves 
within  any  state,  or  designated  part  of  a  state,  the  people  whereof 
shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  shall  be 
then,  thenceforward,  and  forever  free;  and  the  Executive  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States,  including  the  military  and  naval 
authority  thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of 
such  persons,  and  will  do  no  act  or  acts  to  repress  such  persons, 
or  any  of  them,  in  any  efforts  they  may  make  for  their  actual 
freedom. 

That  the  Executive  will,  on  the  first  day  of  January  aforesaid, 
by  proclamation,  designate  the  states  and  parts  of  states,  if  any, 
in  which  the  people  thereof  respectively  shall  then  be  in  rebellion 
against  the  United  States ;  and  the  fact  that  any  state,  or  the  peo- 


Abraham  Lincoln  125 

pie  thereof,  shall  on  that  day  be  in  good  faith  represented  in  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States  by  members  chosen  thereto  at 
elections  wherein  a  majority  of  the  qualified  voters  of  such  state 
shall  have  participated,  shall,  in  the  absence  of  strong  countervail- 
ing testimony,  be  deemed  conclusive  evidence  that  such  state  and 
the  people  thereof  are  not  then  in  rebellion  against  the  United 
States. 

Now  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United 
States,  by  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  as  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States,  in  time  of  actu- 
al armed  rebellion  against  the  authority  and  government  of  the 
United  States,  and  as  a  fit  and  necessary  war  measure  for  sup- 
pressing said  rebellion,  do,  on  this  first  day  of  January,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three, 
and  in  accordance  with  my  purpose  so  to  do,  publicly  proclaimed 
for  the  full  period  of  one  hundred  days  from  the  day  first  above 
mentioned,  order  and  designate  as  the  states  and  parts  of  states 
wherein  the  people  thereof,  respectively,  are  this  day  in  rebellion 
against  the  United  States,  the  following,  to  wit : 

Arkansas,  Texas,  Louisiana,  (except  the  parishes  of  St.  Ber- 
nard, Plaquemines,  Jefferson,  St.  John,  St.  Charles,  St.  James, 
Ascension,  Assumption,  Terrebonne,  Lafourche,  St.  Mary,  St. 
Martin  and  Orleans,  including  the  city  of  New  Orleans),  Mis- 
sissippi, Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia,  South  Carolina,  North  Car- 
olina, and  Virginia  (except  the  forty-eight  counties  designated 
as  West  Virginia,  and  also  the  counties  of  Berkeley,  Accomac, 
Northampton,  Elizabeth  City,  York,  Princess  Ann,  and  Norfolk, 
including  the  cities  of  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth),  and  which  ex- 
cepted parts  are  for  the  present  left  precisely  as  if  this  proclama- 
tion were  not  issued. 

And  by  virtue  of  the  power  and  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  I 
do  order  and  declare  that  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  said  des- 
ignated states  and  parts  of  states  are,  and  henceforward  shall  be, 
free;  and  that  the  Executive  Government  of  the  United  States, 
including  the  military  and  naval  authorities  thereof,  will  recog- 
nize and  maintain  the  freedom  of  said  persons. 

And  I  hereby  enjoin  upon  the  people  so  declared  to  be  free,  to 
abstain  from  all  violence,  unless  in  necessary  self-defense ;  and  I 
recommend  to  them  that  in  all  cases,  when  allowed,  they  labor 
faithfully  for  reasonable  wages. 

And  I  further  declare  and  make  known  that  such  persons  of 
suitable  condition  will  be  received  into  the  army  service  of  the 
United  States  to  garrison  forts,  positions,  stations,  and  other 
places,  and  to  man  vessels  of  all  sorts  in  said  service. 

And  upon  this  act,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act  of  justice, 
warranted  by  the  Constitution,  upon  military  necessity,  I  invoke 


126  Abraham  Lincoln 


the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind  and  the  gracious  favor  of 
Almighty  God. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  first  day  of  January,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty- 
three,  and  of  the  independence  of  the  United  States  of  America 
the  eighty-seventh. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


By  the  President; 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State. 

Mr.  F.  F.  Browne,  whom  I  knew  intimately  for  many  years  in 
Chicago,  says  in  his  carefully  compiled  book  "Everyday  Life  of 
Lincoln" : 

To  a  large  concourse  of  people  who,  two  days  after  the 
proclamation  was  issued,  assembled  before  the  White  House, 
with  music,  the  President  said :  "What  I  did,  I  did  after  a  very 
full  deliberation,  and  under  a  heavy  and  solemn  sense  of  responsi- 
bility. I  can  only  trust  in  God  I  have  made  no  mistake."  That 
he  realized  to  the  full  the  gravity  of  the  step  before  taking  it  is 
shown  again  in  an  incident  related  by  Hon.  John  Covode,  who 
calling  on  the  President  a  few  days  before  the  issue  of  the  final 
proclamation,  found  him  walking  his  room  in  considerable  agi- 
tation. Reference  being  made  to  the  forthcoming  proclamation, 
Lincoln  said  with  great  earnestness :  "I  have  studied  that  matter 
well;  my  mind  is  made  up — it  must  be  done.  I  am  driven  to  it. 
There  is  no  other  way  out  of  our  troubles.  But  although  my 
duty  is  plain,  it  is  in  some  respects  painful,  and  I  trust  the  people 
will  understand  that  I  act  not  in  anger  but  in  expectation  of  a 
greater  good." 

Had  Mr.  Lincoln  lived,  the  re-construction  of  the  southern 
states  would  have  been  accomplished  on  a  more  equitable  basis 
and  much  of  the  injustice  and  hardships  needlessly  inflicted  on  the 
exhausted  people  avoided.  Among  other  things  some  provision 
would  have  been  made  for  the  f reedmen  besides  giving  them  free- 
dom. The  lands  on  which  they  had  worked  for  others  should  in 
part  have  been  distributed  among  them  to  cultivate  on  their  own 
account  as  was  done  in  Russia.  They  should  have  been  given  long 
time  to  pay  for  these  lands  and  the  government  should  have  as- 
sisted them  in  getting  started  on  the  road  to  independence,  if  they 
were  willing  to  support  themselves  on  their  own  farms. 


Abraham  Lincoln  127 


NEGRO  FELLOWSHIP  LEAGUE  CELEBRATE  WITH   SONG. 

Chicago's  celebration  of  the  anniversary  of  the  emancipa- 
tion proclamation  at  Orchestra  Hall  was  made  notable  by  the 
singing  of  a  chorus  of  ioo  voices  organized  by  Mrs.  Ida  B.  Wells- 
Barnett,  president  of  the  Negro  Fellowship  league,  and  instructed 
by  James  A.  Mundy.  The  chorus  sang  compositions  by  Wagner 
and  Handel  as  well  as  an  anthem,  "Ethiopia  Shall  Soon  Stretch 
Out  Her  Hands  Unto  God,"  composed  by  Mr.  Mundy. 

The  preliminary  announcement  made  by  the  celebration  com- 
mittee bears  a  quotation  from  Justice  Harlan,  "The  constitution 
is  color  blind."  The  emancipation  proclamation  was  read  by 
Dr.  Charles  E.  Bently. 


CONSPIRACY  TO   BURN    CHICAGO. 

Benjamin  Jeffrey  Sweet  who  distinguished  himself  while  Com- 
mandant at  Camp  Douglas,  Chicago,  during  the  years  1864  and 
1865,  was  a  young  lawyer  who  was  commissioned  as  Major  of 
the  6th  Wisconsin  Infantry  Volunteers  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion. 

Born  in  Clinton  county,  New  York  in  1832,  young  Sweet  came 
with  his  family  to  Wisconsin  at  an  early  age,  his  father  being  a 
pioneer  missionary  to  the  Indians  and  settlers  of  Calumet  county. 
Already  a  successful  young  attorney  and  state  senator  at  Mad- 
ison in  1861,  Mr.  Sweet  received  his  commission  and  entered 
the  army  as  a  major  of  the  6th  Wisconsin  Infantry  Volunteers. 
Later  he  returned  to  Wisconsin  and  raised  two  regiments,  going 
to  the  front  as  Colonel  of  the  21st  Infantry. 

At  the  famous  battle  of  Perryville,  Ky.,  Colonel  Sweet  re- 
ceived two  dangerous  wounds  and  in  consequence  went  into  the 
Veteran  Reserve  Corps  and  in  due  time  was  placed  in  command 
of  Camp  Douglas,  near  Chicago,  being  then  Colonel  of  the  8th 
Regiment  U.  S.  Reserve  Corps. 

At  Camp  Douglas  there  was  a  great  prison  camp  where  thou- 
sands of  Confederate  prisoners  were  confined.  In  the  fall  of  1864 
there  was  a  conspiracy  formed  by  direct  influences  in  Rich- 
mond, the  Confederate  Capital,  to  release  the  prisoners  at  Camp 
Douglas,  arm  them,  sack  and  burn  Chicago,  and  carry  the  war  in- 
to the  Northwest.  Colonel  Sweet  through  his  constant  vigil- 
ance and  care,  ferreted  out  this  conspiracy  and  at  the  last  mo- 
ment, just  as  the  blow  was  about  to  be  struck,  arrested  the  lead- 
ers, seized  the  arms  stored  in  Chicago  and  put  an  end  to  the  en- 
terprise.   Two  confederate  Colonels  and  a  number  of  Northern 


128  Abraham  Lincoln 


sympathizers,  some  of  them  being  Chicagoans  of  note,  were 
among  those  arrested.  The  services  of  Colonel  Sweet  were 
highly  appreciated  by  the  United  States  Government,  and  he  re- 
ceived his  commission  as  Brigadier  General,  soon  after  the  crush- 
ing blow  he  dealt  to  the  conspirators.  It  is  certain  that  had  the 
attempt  to  carry  the  war  into  the  Northwest  been  successful,  the 
struggle  between  the  states  would  have  been  greatly  prolonged. 

(Note:  It  was  during  the  troubles  in  Chicago,  incident  to  the 
conditions  brought  about  by  the  Southern  sympathizers,  that 
Wilbur  F.  Story  of  the  Chicago  Times  nearly  lost  his  life.  They 
were  turbulent  days  in  Chicago  at  this  time  and  the  city  was 
patroled  by  soldiers  from  the  Camp;  disorderly  mobs  were  fre- 
quent and  the  mob  which  attacked  the  Times  Building  was  only 
one  of  those  which  were  successfully  handled  by  General  Sweet. 
I,  myself,  driving  down  town  with  my  father,  once  saw  him 
stopped  by  a  mob  in  front  of  a  bank  in  which  funds  were  depos- 
ited for  the  substitutes.  We  were  driven  a  little  aside  where  I 
held  the  reins  and  saw  my  father  go  up  on  the  balcony,  on  the 
2nd  floor  of  the  bank  and  by  his  personal  efforts,  quell  and  dis- 
perse a  very  dangerous  looking  mob  of  excited  men.) 

(Miss)  A.  C.  Sweet. 

General  Sweet  resigned  at  the  end  of  the  war  and  entered  the 
practice  of  law  at  Chicago.  He  was  later  appointed  U.  S.  Pen- 
sion Agent  at  Chicago  and  Supervisor  of  Internal  Revenue  and 
then  first  Deputy  Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue  at 
Wash.,  D.  C.  He  died  just  before  his  42nd  birthday,  January 
1st,  1874,  at  Washington. 


Abraham  Lincoln  129 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THESIS  ON  GOVERNMENT  USED  AS  CAMPAIGN  DOCUMENT  IN    1864. 

REPUBLICAN      CONVENTION      1 864. CAMPAIGN      1 864. PREE- 

MONT  HEADS  THE  MALCONTENTS UNCOILS  HUMOR. 

When  I  returned  from  Heidelberg  I  went  to  the  University  of 
Michigan,  where  I  graduated  from  the  law  department  in  1864. 

All  graduates  are  required  to  write  a  thesis ;  and  having  spent 
some  time  previously  at  the  University  of  Heidelberg,  where  I 
became  interested  in  the  various  forms  of  government  in  Europe, 
I  selected  for  mine  'A  Comparison  between  the  Forms  of  Gov- 
ernment of  the  Republic  or  Representative  Democracy  of  the 
United  States  and  those  of  Other  Nations.' 

I  have  always  considered  our  form  of  government  preferable 
to  any  other.  It  is  the  abuse  of  this  great  inheritance  by  those 
upon  whose  responsibility  and  votes  the  government  is  main- 
tained that  excites  criticism. 

The  civil  war  was  progressing  toward  its  close  in  1864  when 
I  was  at  the  University,  and  naturally  the  critical  condition  of 
the  nation  was  on  my  mind.  On  my  return  to  Springfield,  my 
home  at  that  time,  I  called  upon  the  war  governor,  Richard 
Yates,  and  submitted  my  thesis  to  him.  He  read  it  over  and  sent 
me  a  letter  expressing  his  strong  approval,  which  I  published 
with  my  thesis  as  a  campaign  document,  when  Abraham  Lincoln 
ran  the  second  time  for  the  Presidency.  It  was  circulated  by  the 
Union  League. 

I  gave  copies  to  President  Lincoln  when  I  called  on  him  in 
1865. 


THE   REPUBLICAN    NATIONAL    CONVENTION    OP    1864. 

Mr.  Clark  E.  Carr,  in  his  book  entitled,  "My  Day  and  Genera- 
tion," states,  that:  "the  Republican  National  Convention  was 
called  by  the  National  Committee  to  meet  at  Baltimore  on  June 
7,  1864.  The  writer  of  this  was  one  of  the  delegates  from  Illi- 
nois in  that  Convention.  There  was  in  Illinois  scarcely  the  slight- 
est opposition  to  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  Every  republic- 
an there  was  enthusiastically  for  him,  and  we  were  by  ringing 
resolutions  unanimously  instructed  to  support  him. 


130  Abraham  Lincoln 


"New  Hampshire  and  Pennsylvania  led  off  in  declaring  for 
Mr.  Lincoln,  on  the  same  day  so  early  as  January  5th  before  the 
Baltimore  Convention. 

"Joseph  Medill  of  the  Chicago  Tribune  was  one  of  the  ablest 
most  earnest,  and  most  persistent  supporter  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 

"Bitter  and  malignant  as  was  the  opposition  to  the  re-nomina- 
tion of  Mr.  Lincoln  elsewhere,  its  storm  center  continued  to  be  in 
Missouri,  culminating,  as  has  been  said,  in  two  state  republican 
conventions — the  Conservatives  favoring  him,  and  the  Radicals 
denouncing  him.  John  G.  Nicolay,  who  was  the  private  secre- 
tary of  the  President,  appeared  in  the  Convention  at  the  most 
critical  time  and  on  his  own  authority,  he  said,  'Advise  the  Illi- 
nois delegation  to  support  the  Radicals  instead  of  the  Conserva- 
tives.' We  had  once  voted  in  favor  of  seating  the  Radicals. 
Other  delegates  followed  and  they  were  seated. 

"The  result  was  that  when  the  time  came  for  the  nomination 
in  the  great  Convention,  although  a  motion  was  made  and  stren- 
uously urged  to  that  effect,  it  was  impossible  to  re-nominate  Mr. 
Lincoln  by  acclamation,  and  the  roll  had  to  be  called.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln received  every  vote  but  that  of  Missouri.  Mr.  Lincoln  re- 
ceived 484  votes.  Missouri  gave  her  22  votes  for  General  Grant, 
but  before  the  vote  was  announced,  Missouri  changed  her  vote 
and,  although  not  by  acclamation,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  unanimously 
nominated." 

Mr.  Carr  says :  "We  saw  that  when  we  admitted  this  Radical 
delegation  upon  ecmality  with  all  other  delegates  and  gave  them 
a  right  to  be  heard,  gave  them  their  day  in  court,  they  were,  like 
us,  committed  to  the  action  of  the  Convention  and  its  candidate, 
and  as  loyal  Republicans,  estopped  from  casting  their  fortunes 
with  the  third  party  already  in  the  field." 

"Mr.  Lincoln  was  great  enough  and  wise  enough  to  see  all 
this.  After  giving  a  complimentary  vote  for  Grant,  the  Radicals 
changed  their  vote  for  Lincoln.  Mr.  Lincoln  at  the  election 
carried  against  General  McClellan  every  electoral  vote,  except 
those  of  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  and  Kentucky,  and  his  popular 
vote  was  nearly  half  a  million  greater  than  had  ever  before  been 
received  by  a  presidential  candidate." 

This  shows  that  the  great  majority  of  the  people,  or  voters, 
heartily  endorsed  the  policy  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 


MORE  LIGHT  AND  LESS  NOISE/    AND  OTHER  LINCOLN  ANECDOTES. 

An  editorial  in  the  New  York  Tribune,  opposing  Lincoln's  re- 
nomination,  is  said  to  have  called  out  from  him  the  following 
story : 


Abraham  Lincoln  131 


"A  traveler  on  the  frontier  found  himself  out  of  his  reckon- 
ing one  night  in  a  most  inhospitable  region.  A  terrific  thunder- 
storm came  up  to  add  to  his  trouble.  He  floundered  along  until 
his  horse  at  length  gave  out.  The  lightning  afforded  him  the  on- 
ly clue  to  his  way,  but  the  peals  of  thunder  were  frightful.  One 
bolt,  which  seemed  to  crash  the  earth  beneath  him,  brought  him 
to  his  knees.  By  no  means  a  praying  man,  his  petition  was  short 
and  to  the  point:  'O  Lord,  if  it  is  all  the  same  to  you,  give  us 
a  little  more  light  and  a  little  less  noise !' " 

When  the  time  came  along  in  the  spring  of  1864  for  nomina- 
tions to  be  made  for  the  Presidential  office  General  J.  C.  Fre- 
mont was  prominently  mentioned  by  a  few  of  the  malcontents, 
and  vociferousness  gave  color  to  claims  of  a  support  that  subse- 
quent events  proved  he  did  not  have.  John  T.  Morse,  Jr.,  in  his 
Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  tells  the  following  story: 

"At  Cleveland  on  the  appointed  day  the  mass  convention  as- 
sembled, only  the  mass  was  wanting.  It  nominated  Fremont  for 
the  Presidency  and  Gen.  John  Cochrane  for  the  Vice-presidency ; 
and  thus  again  the  Constitution  was  ignored  by  these  malcon- 
tents, for  both  these  gentlemen  were  citizens  of  New  York,  and 
therefore  the  important  delegation  from  that  State  could  lawful- 
ly vote  for  only  one  of  them.  Really  the  best  result  which  the 
convention  achieved  was  that  it  called  forth  a  bit  of  wit  from 
the  President.  Some  one  remarked  to  him  that,  instead  of  the 
expected  thousands,  only  about  four  hundred  persons  had  as- 
sembled. He  turned  to  the  Bible  which,  say  Nicolay  and  Hay, 
commonly  lay  on  his  desk,  and  read  the  verse :  'And  every  one 
that  was  in  distress,  and  every  one  that  was  in  debt,  and  every 
one  that  was  discontented,  gathered  themselves  unto  him ;  and  he 
became  a  captain  over  them ;  and  there  were  with  him  about  four 
hundred  men/  " 

"There  is  but  one  contingency  that  can  cause  your  defeat  for 
a  second  term,"  one  of  Lincoln's  friends  said  to  him  in  1863,  "and 
that  is  Grant's  capture  of  Richmond  and  his  nomination  as  an 
opposing  candidate." 

"Well,"  replied  Mr.  Lincoln,  shrewdly,  "I  feel  very  much  about 
that  as  the  man  felt  who  said  he  didn't  want  to  die  particularly, 
but  if  he  had  got  to  die,  that  was  precisely  the  disease  he  would 
like  to  die  of." 


AUTHORITATIVE  LETTER  FROM  THE  PRESIDENT  TO  HORACE  GREELEY. 

July  18,  1864,  President  Lincoln  published  the  following  letter 
as  he  was  informed  by  Horace  Greeley  that  there  were  commis- 
sioners, Clement  C.  Clay  being  one  of  them,  from  the  South, 


132  Abraham  Lincoln 


waiting  near  Niagara  Falls  in  Canada  to  open  up  negotiations  of 
peace,  if  permitted  to  do  so.  Mr.  John  Hay  had  been  sent  to 
meet  them  and  found  they  had  no  authority  from  the  Cen fed- 
erate government  to  negotiate  with  United  States  authorities: 

Executive  Mansion,  Washington, 
July  18,  1864. 

To  Whom  It  May  Concern: 

"Any  proposition  which  embraces  the  restoration  of  peace,  the 
integrity  of  the  whole  Union,  and  the  abandonment  of  slavery, 
and  which  comes  by  and  with  an  authority  that  can  control  the 
armies  now  at  war  against  the  United  States,  will  be  received 
and  considered  by  the  executive  government  of  the  United  States 
and  will  be  met  on  liberal  terms  on  substantial  and  collateral 
points,  and  the  bearer  or  bearers  thereof  shall  have  safe  conduct 
both  ways." 

A.    LINCOLN. 

This  authorized  proposal  of  peace  sent  to  Horace  Greeley  who 
was  simply  a  tool,  was  part  of  a  plot  laid  to  affect  the  re-elec- 
tion of  Lincoln  for  a  second  term.  But  it  failed  of  its  purpose 
on  account  of  the  bold  stand  taken  by  the  president  showing  his 
willingness  to  have  peace  on  honorable  terms. 

The  president  was  very  much  annoyed,  Senator  Shelby  M. 
Cullom  said  in  his  book  entitled  "Fifty  Years  of  Public  Service." 

"He  remarked  to  me,  that  while  Mr.  Horace  Greeley  means  all 
right,  he  makes  me  almost  as  much  trouble  as  the  whole  South- 
ern Confederacy." 


Abraham  Lincoln  133 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE    PRESIDENTIAL    CAMPAIGN     1 864 A    SIGNIFICANT    CAMPAIGN 

DOCUMENT — NO     ^GERMAN-AMERICANS^     IN     THOSE    DAYS — A 
SPEECH  AND  A  POEM. 

The  following  campaign  document  was  printed  in  English  and 
German  by  me  and  circulated  during  the  Lincoln  campaign  of 
1864.     I  gave  copies  to  Mr.  Lincoln  when  I  called  on  him  at 
Washington  Feb.,  1865. 
Fellow-countrymen  and  friends — 

Let  us  one  and  all  rally  around  the  old  flag  of  our  country, 
and  take  in  our  charge  the  sacred  constitution,  and  the  laws,  and 
place  them,  with  our  majority  of  voices  in  the  hands  of  those 
men  best  qualified  to  protect  and  preserve  them.  Let  every 
citizen  above  the  age  of  twenty-one  cherish  the  vote  granted  to 
him  by  the  constitution,  and  cast  it  for  those  alone  who  are 
worthy,  honorable,  and  loyal  candidates  for  state  and  federal  of- 
fices. Consider  the  responsibility  each  and  every  one  of  you  are 
under  in  maintaining  and  protecting  this  government  under  which 
we  live.  The  vote  of  the  poor  man  counts  as  much  as  that  of  the 
rich  man,  therefore  let  every  vote  be  carefully  weighed,  and  not 
placed  in  the  scale  of  wrong. 

Our  country,  as  you  all  know,  is  in  a  threatened  condition  and 
should  we  fail  now  in  preserving  the  union  of  the  states,  and 
the  laws  which  govern  them,  we  will  be  plunged  into  an  abyss  of 
ruin,  and  the  fall  of  our  glorious  temple  of  liberty  will  echo 
in  mournful  sounds  throughout  the  whole  world,  and  be  lament- 
ed by  many  generations  that  will  follow  after  us. 

The  peace  and  security  of  the  United  States  has  been  threat- 
ened by  a  great  army  of  rebellious  citizens,  who  rend  our  con- 
stitution, and  scorn  the  sacred  emblem  of  our  liberty.  Shall 
this  rebellious  crew  be  put  down  and  annihilated?  Or  shall  it 
be  permitted  to  rule?  If  annihilated  who  shall  be  instrumental 
in  doing  it,  the  candidates  proposed  by  the  Copperhead  party,  or 
those  brought  forward  by  the  Union  party  ?  Do  the  Copperhead 
candidates  seem  to  you  to  be  fit  men,  with  right  principles  to  put 
down  this  rebellion?  Or  do  the  Union  candidates  appear  as 
such?  The  great  hobby  of  the  former  is  peace  and  their  cry  is 
compromise  and  slavery.  While  the  great  principles  of  the  other 
are  liberty,  emancipation  and  Union. 


134  Abraham  Lincoln 


My  dear  countrymen,  liberty  is  the  greatest  boon  that  can  be 
bestowed  upon  man.  Liberty  of  speech,  liberty  of  thought,  and 
liberty  of  action.  Take  away  these  and  you  reduce  a  man  to  a 
creature  but  little  higher  than  the  brute.  He  is  dumb  until  bid- 
den to  speak  by  the  ignoble  tyrant  who  holds  him  in  bondage. 
He  is  enchained,  and  unable  to  use  the  physical  or  mental  pow- 
ers granted  him  by  nature,  until  it  shall  please  the  will  of  the 
same  master  of  his  being.  His  mind  becomes  locked  and  remains 
as  it  was,  a  blank  in  existence,  except  when  unbolted  and  com- 
manded to  act  by  the  lord  who  rules  over  it.  Liberty  is  the  birth- 
right of  every  man  who  breathes  the  atmosphere  of  earth,  and 
he  who  attempts  to  rob  his  fellow  man  of  this  right,  deserves  the 
curse  of  heaven,  and  the  bitter  contempt  of  all  humanity!  He 
deserves  to  be  ground  into  dust  beneath  the  heels  of  those  he 
sought  to  rob  of  their  freedom.  Bonaparte,  in  a  proclamation 
issued  in  Egypt  said  that,  "all  men  were  equal  in  the  eye  of  God : 
wisdom,  talents  and  virtue  making  the  only  difference."  This  is 
a  noble  sentiment,  and  one  which  if  adhered  to  by  Napoleon 
would  have  gained  for  him  more  favor  than  he  ever  received 
from  his  fellow  men  as  Emperor.  Yet,  I  say,  fellow  countrymen, 
that  all  men,  whether  equal  in  their  capacities  or  not,  should  be 
free.  No  man  has  the  right  to  dictate  to  the  world  who  shall  be 
free,  and  who  shall  be  enslaved.  No  man  has  the  right  to  say  I 
shall  be  free,  but  my  neighbor  who  has  less  capacity  for  the  en- 
joyment of  life  and  for  the  acquisition  of  wealth,  or  learning 
than  I,  shall  be  enslaved.  And  no  man  has  the  right  to  rob  his 
fellow  man  of  the  greatest  natural  right  that  he  has,  which  is 
nothing  less  than  his  liberty.  Therefore,  I  say,  that  the  aristoc- 
racies and  monarchies  of  England,  Germany,  France  and  Rus- 
sia, and  the  whole  catalogue  of  weak,  though  ambitious  and  ty- 
rannical kings,  princes,  and  nobles  of  Christendom,  should  be 
compelled,  together  with  the  slave-holders  in  the  United  States, 
to  yield  to  mankind  their  birthright.  I  further  affirm,  that  an 
administration  of  a  Republic,  that  holds  itself  out  to  the  world  to 
be  governed  by  free  and  enlightened  principles,  has  the  right,  and 
is  under  obligations  to  crush  out  slavery  in  any  form  within  its 
territory,  and  that  such  administration  has  the  right  to  use  all 
its  powers  in  breaking  down  tyranny  in  any  and  all  quarters  of 
the  United  States. 

I  am  not  a  man  who  would  court  the  pomp  and  honors  of  a 
throne,  or  bear  with  weakness  the  insolence  of  the  great.  I  am 
not  a  creature  to  be  cowed  into  submission  by  the  display  of 
aristocratic  fools,  knaves  or  tyrants — therefore,  I  am  for  the 
overthrow  of  the  whole  system  of  oppression,  no  matter  where 
it  exists,  but  am  the  most  anxious  for  the  destruction  of  that 


Abraham  Lincoln  135 


tyranny  which  I  perceive  immediately  at  home.  Away  with 
slavery  in  America !     Away  with  slavery  in  the  world ! 

Now  in  regard  to  the  troubles  in  the  United  States,  and  the 
manner  in  which  the  affairs  of  our  government  have  been  con- 
ducted under  the  administration  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  one  of  two  things  must  be  done,  either  the  Southern 
States  must  be  permitted  to  establish  a  government  independent 
of  the  United  States,  but  upon  its  territory,  and  thereby  create 
two  separate  and  distinct  countries  where  one  before  existed; 
the  principles  of  the  one  being  undivided  freedom  and  national 
independence,  while  those  of  the  other  are  slavery,  and  political 
aristocracy,  or  those  states  must  be  required,  and  compelled  to 
remain  permanent  pillars  in  the  temple  of  our  national  existence, 
abolish  slavery,  and  submit  as  the  other  states,  to  just  and  equi- 
table laws  and  the  principles  of  our  constitution.  This,  gentle- 
men, is  the  final  issue ;  one  or  the  other  must  be  done. 

Let  us  grant  the  Southern  States  a  separate  and  distinct  na- 
tional existence,  and  what  is  the  result?  We  see,  as  it  were 
England  and  France,  with  their  continual  strifes,  transplanted 
upon  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  placed  one  by  the  side  of  the 
other  upon  the  territory  of  the  United  States  with  not  even  an 
English  Channel  between  them  to  keep  them  from  destroying  one 
another.  We  see  national  prejudices  growing  into  bloody  wars. 
We  see  the  clash  of  different  principles  and  forms  of  govern- 
ment that  are  trying  to  live  side  by  side.  We  see  the  glorious 
stars  and  stripes,  that  have  spoken  independence  for  so  many 
years  to  the  oppressed  of  the  world,  and  the  flag  that  floats  over 
the  slave  and  his  master,  attempting  to  wave  in  the  same  breeze 
and  nearly  over  the  same  territory ;  and  finally,  we  see  a  sure  im- 
possibility, attempting  to  force  itself  into  a  possibility. 

In  his  "Inaugural  address"  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "Physically 
speaking,  we  cannot  separate.  We  cannot  remove  our  respective 
sections  from  each  other,  nor  build  an  impassable  wall  between 
them.  A  husband  and  wife  may  be  divorced  and  go  out  of  the 
presence  and  out  of  the  reach  of  each  other,  but  the  different 
parts  of  our  country  cannot  do  this.  We  cannot  but  remain  face 
to  face ;  and  intercourse,  either  amicable  or  hostile,  must  continue 
between  them.  Is  it  possible  then  to  make  that  intercourse  more 
advantageous  or  more  satisfactory  after  separation  than  before? 
Can  aliens  make  treaties  better  than  friends  can  make  laws? 
Can  treaties  be  more  faithfully  enforced  between  aliens,  than 
laws  can  among  friends?" 

Now  instead  of  imitating  Europe,  and  dividing  our  territory 
into  separate  and  insignificant  countries,  governed  by  entirely  dif- 
ferent laws  and  principles,  as  the  secessionists  wish,  and  which 
their  copperhead  friends,  the  opposing  candidates  would  permit, 


136  Abraham  Lincoln 


why  not  influence  Europe  to  fashion  her  governments  after  our 
more  enlightened  form,  and  unite  those  thousand  and  one  quarter 
section  kingdoms  into  one  prominent  and  well  regulated  republic- 
an government,  ruled  by  the  common  sense  of  an  educated 
people,  and  by  just,  equitable  and  liberal  laws?  The  separation 
of  the  United  States  into  two  governments  would  be  but  a  pre- 
cedent for  a  state  of  things  similar  to  that  of  Europe,  and  this, 
reason  would  show  us  to  be  a  retrograde  movement  in  civiliza- 
tion and  enlightenment. 

Let  us  now  instead  of  yielding  to  the  unworthy  motives  of 
southern  leaders,  as  the  compromising,  peace  begging,  and  timid- 
hearted  copperhead  candidates  would  have  us  do  if  elected  to 
office — which  Heaven  forbid — let  us,  I  say,  and  hear  me  ye  im- 
mortal spirits,  who  when  on  earth  risked  your  all,  and  moistened 
the  earth  with  your  blood  to  establish  this  heaven-born  govern- 
ment upon  the  soil  of  America !  Let  us,  I  repeat,  compel  with 
main  force,  a  recognition  of  the  constitutional  authorities  of  the 
United  States,  by  each  and  every  state  of  which  that  union  is 
composed. 

Our  object  accomplished,  which  is  the  object  of  Lincoln's  ad- 
ministration, the  preservation  of  the  union  of  all  the  states ;  the 
establishment  of  universal  liberty;  and  the  exercise  of  the  just 
and  constitutional  authority  of  our  government,  and  we  have  the 
United  States  one,  complete,  and  perfect  nation.  It  will  stand  as 
an  example  of  firmness,  and  a  proof  of  the  capacity  of  man  for 
self  government.  It  will  excite  the  admiration  and  respect  of  the 
whole  civilized  world  sending  the  conviction  to  the  mind  of  every 
man,  of  the  fact  that  a  free  and  enlightened  government  like  our 
own  would  be  at  this  day,  if  not  before,  can  stand  permanent  and 
secure  upon  its  own  glorious  foundation,  which  is  the  establish- 
ment of  the  principle,  that  all  men  must  be  free. 

The  question  before  us,  fellow  countrymen,  is,  who  shall  man- 
age the  affairs  of  government  for  the  next  four  years ;  those  who 
advocate  Union  sentiments  and  freedom,  or  those  who  will  force 
us  to  acknowledge  the  right  of  secession,  state  rights,  and  slavery  ? 

THE    NOVEMBER    ELECTION. 

UNCONDITIONAL  UNION   NOMINATIONS. 

FOR   PRESIDENT, 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

OF  ILLINOIS. 
FOR  VICE-PRESIDENT, 

ANDREW  JOHNSON, 
OF  TENNESSEE. 


Abraham  Lincoln  137 


For  Governor,  Richard  J.  Oglesby. 

For  Lieutenant  Governor,  William  Bross. 

For  Secretary  of  State,  Sharon  Tyndale. 

For  Auditor,  O.  H.  Miner. 

For  State  Treasurer,  James  H.  Beveridge. 

For  Sup't.  Pub.  Instruction,  Newton  Bateman. 

For  Congressman  at  large,  Samuel  W.  Moulton. 

Presidential  Electors. 

For  the  state  at  large 

John  Dougherty,  of  Union. 
Francis  A.  Hoffman,  of  Du  Page. 
Benjamin  M.  Prentiss,  of  Adams. 

District  Electors. 


John  V.  Farwell,  8.     Jas.  C.  Conkling, 

Anson  S.  Miller,  9.     William  Walker, 

John  V.  Eustace,  10.     Thos.  W.  Harris, 

James  S.  Pogue,  11.     N.  M.  McCurdy, 

John  J.  Bennett,  12.     A.  W.  Metcalf, 

William  T.  Hopkins,  13.     Z.  Clifford. 


Franklin  Blade, 

FOR    CONGRESS    FROM    THE    EIGHTH    CONGRESSIONAL    DISTRICT. 

SHELBY  M.  CULLOM, 
of  Sangamon  County. 

These  are  the  men  who  should  receive  the  vote  of  every  loyal 
and  honest  man  in  our  state. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  has  been  tried,  and  we  all  know  that  he  has 
conducted  himself  nobly  during  the  past  four  years,  whilst  the 
ship  of  state  has  been  tossed  amid  the  breakers  of  secession,  re- 
bellion, and  slavery,  and  our  whole  country  seemed  on  the  brink 
of  ruin.  If  there  are  some  instances  when  you  have  thought 
that  he  should  have  acted  differently  how  do  you  know  but  that 
another  placed  in  his  trying  position  would  have  acted  far  less 
wisely?  Or  how  do  you  know  but  that  his  course  was  right  in 
the  end,  and  you  unable  to  see  its  propriety  from  your  less  ad- 
vantageous position  of  observation?  Taking  the  entire  course 
used  by  Abraham  Lincoln  during  the  term  of  his  administration, 
we  cannot  but  commend  and  honor  him  for  his  straightforward, 


138  Abraham  Lincoln 


unrelenting  and  determined  will  to  execute  the  laws  of  our  gov- 
ernment, and  to  preserve  and  defend  its  holy  privileges. 

We,  of  Illinois,  should  be  proud  that  a  citizen  of  our  state, 
which  has  sent  forth  so  many  heroes  to  fight  the  battles  for  lib- 
erty, is  now  called  upon  for  the  renewed  services  of  its  distin- 
guished and  noble  hearted  Lincoln.  We  should  all  give  him  a 
hearty  support,  and  thereby  be  doing  our  country  a  lasting  fa- 
vor, and  be  lending  our  strength  for  holding  together  the  states  of 
the  Union  and  for  preserving  the  equilibrium  of  the  nation. 
Under  Lincoln's  administration  a  great  army  and  navy  has  been 
reared  out  of  the  true  and  loyal  materials  in  the  United  States, 
and  now  stand  ready  to  defend  our  constitution  and  enforce  the 
laws  of  the  government.  The  national  finances  are  in  the  best 
condition  possible  under  the  circumstances,  and  although  millions 
have  been  spent  for  the  support  of  men,  and  for  the  raising  of 
materials  for  carrying  on  this  war,  yet  so  well  is  the  machinery 
equipped  that  it  will  run  without  being  clogged  until  the  war  is 
ended,  or  the  resources  of  our  nation  are  exhausted.  Why 
change  the  President,  and  thereby  alter  the  entire  policy  under 
which  we  have  acted  for  the  past  four  years?  Why  not  keep 
everything  compact  and  unchanged  until  this  war  is  completely 
over  and  peace  and  liberty  reign  triumphant  in  the  land? 

A  rainbow  appears  above  the  horizon  of  our  national  ex- 
istence. Within  its  colors  are  innumerable  homes  looming  up 
with  cheerfulness  and  glory  like  to  the  stars  that  fill  the  deep  con- 
cave of  heaven  in  the  silent  night.  The  virtuous  maiden  and  the 
gallant  youth  link  their  lives  together  and  create  a  circle  of  do- 
mestic bliss.  The  sound  of  war  has  ceased,  the  terrific  clouds 
that  have  so  long  filled  the  sky  with  gloom  have  disappeared  and 
the  clear  radiance  of  peace  beams  forth  from  the  political  heav- 
ens. Commerce  and  agriculture  flourish  unmolested,  enriching 
the  country,  while  foreign  nations  find  it  to  their  interest  to 
stretch  forward  a  cordial  hand  toward  us.  The  chains  of  slavery 
have  dropped  forever  from  the  limbs  of  the  inhabitants  of  "Free 
America"  while  free  labor  and  industry  fills  the  south  and  north 
with  plenty  and  cheerfullness.  The  glorious  emblem  of  our  na- 
tional honor  floats  triumphantly  over  the  whole  of  our  country 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  and  from  the  lakes  to  the  gulf. 
Liberty  is  written  across  its  folds,  and  every  star  is  there  in  all 
its  brilliancy.  The  thoughtful  continuance  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
shines  through  the  bow,  and  "President  of  the  United  States  for 
1 865-66-67-68' '  is  stamped  upon  a  golden  medal  that  rests  upon 
his  patriotic  breast. 

Springfield,  111.,  May  25th,  1864. 
The  Illinois  State  Convention  met  at  the  Capitol  for  the  pur- 


Abraham  Lincoln  139 


pose  of  electing  Senators  for  State  offices  and  for  the  election 
of  delegates  to  the  Baltimore  Convention.  I  was  an  attendant 
most  of  the  time  and  resolved  to  work  for  the  straight  union 
ticket  and  do  all  in  my  power  to  keep  Mr.  Lincoln  in  the  Presi- 
dential chair. 

1  went  to  the  Governor's  levee  in  the  evening  with  my  wife 
and  niece. 


SPEECH  BEFORE  THE  ATHENS,  ILL.  UNION  LEAGUE,  JULY  1 7,  1 863. 

The  following  is  a  transcript  of  a  speech  delivered  by  the 
writer  before  the  Athens,  111.  Union  League,  July  17,  1863,  and 
published  in  the  Athens  Herald: 

Why  should  a  parcel  of  scheming  politicians  anxious  after 
the  preference  yielded  by  the  people  to  those  whom  they  think 
are  great  benefactors  to  their  country,  be  permitted  to  come  for- 
ward and  mislead  the  people  by  false  and  treacherous  reasonings 
and  cause  them,  the  people,  to  believe  that  they  are  the  great  pro- 
tectors of  their  rights,  while  they  are  really  only  a  burden  to  them, 
weakening  their  (the  people's)  powers  and  crippling  all  the  wor- 
thy efforts  of  the  administration.  It  is  a  disgrace  to  Illinois  to 
permit  a  legislative  body  convened  in  its  capitol  to  throw  calumny 
on  the  government  at  this  time,  when  at  the  very  best  it  can  only 
be  sustained  and  kept  united  by  the  free  co-operation  of  the  whole 
Northern  people  in  their  effort  to  subdue  the  present  rebellion. 
I  say,  it  will  be  a  lasting  disgrace  and  it  will  in  a  measure  coun- 
teract the  gallant  bearing  of  the  loyal  citizens  of  the  state  upon 
the  field  of  battle. 

They  pretend  to  fear  that  their  rights  are  being  taken  from 
them — these  two-faced  seekers  after  political  preference.  They 
no  more  fear  this  than  they  fear  that  the  earth  will  stop  in  its 
course  around  the  sun.  There  is  not  one  democratic  member  of 
the  legislature  that  does  not  know,  as  well  as  he  knows  that  his 
life  is  sustained  by  breathing,  that  in  order  to  work  with  any  de- 
gree of  force  at  the  North  at  this  time,  the  people — the  great  pow- 
er for  good  or  evil — must  be  kept  united  and  ever  mindful  of  the 
fact  that  at  this  time  under  the  present  circumstances  their  com- 
bined efforts  will  alone  save  the  country.  And  they  know  that  to 
let  speech  after  speech,  article  after  article  be  published  in  news- 
papers and  showered  upon  the  people,  filled  with  opposition  to  the 
just  efforts  of  the  administration  to  subdue  the  rebellion,  is  but 
to  permit  the  power  of  the  people  to  be  divided  and  wasted  in  en- 
dangering the  safety  of  the  country.  They  know  this,  but  still 
with  evil  hearts,  and  selfish  plans  they  do  not  care  what  they  are 


140  Abraham  Lincoln 


doing  to  destroy  the  country,  just  so  they  can  by,  this  means,  ob- 
tain power  and  mastery  over  the  people  and  gain  possession  of  the 
different  branches  of  the  state  government.  They  think,  perhaps, 
that  when  once  in  power  they  can  undo  the  mischief  they  have 
done  and  remedy  the  evil  by  their  fancied  benefits. 

The  people  should  be  warned  of  these  prowlers  after  the 
storehouses  of  the  land  and  see  under  the  glittering,  imposing 
and  insinuating  arguments,  a  base  and  treacherous  purpose. 

Who  are  these  men  who  spring  forward  and  offer  the  people, 
with  so  much  generosity,  their  assistance  in  obtaining  for  them 
their  rights?  Who  are  these  lawyers  who  will  defend  the  right- 
ful heir  from  incroachments  of  unlawful  aggressors?  Angels  in 
the  shape  of  men  from  the  courts  of  paradise?  or  disloyal  citi- 
zens from  the  marvel  of  the  West — Chicago  ?  Surely  the  people 
who  are  so  unused  to  the  possession  of  their  liberties  as  the 
American  people,  should  have  some  one — &  Gowdy — a  Fuller — or 
a  Merrick — to  tell  them  when  their  liberties  are  being  taken  from 
them,  and  offer  their  professional  services  in  regaining  their  law- 
ful rights,  and  as  a  recompense,  we,  the  American  people,  can 
give  one  the  president's  chair,  another  the  secretary's  bureau, 
and  a  third  the  gubernatorial  chair  of  Illinois.  This  is  all  they 
ask,  and  they  are  so  very  patriotic  and  express  such  liberal  senti- 
ments. 

This  is  all  they  are  working  after  and  the  people  should  not 
allow  themselves  to  be  deceived  by  them.  No  one  pretends  to 
take  away  the  liberties  of  the  people.  All  the  actions  of  the  ad- 
ministration only  tend  to  enlarge  the  bounds  of  freedom,  and  to 
secure  its  blessings  perpetually  on  this  continent. 

Men  should  not  have  the  power  to  act  treasonably,  nor  should 
they  have  the  right  to  talk  or  advocate  treason.  But  denying  this 
right  is  not  infringing  upon  the  rights  of  the  people  any  more 
than  it  would  be  to  deny  the  right  of  free  men  to  murder  each 
other  with  impunity. 

I  think  that  the  people  possess  the  liberty  yet  of  riding  these 
demagogues  on  rails  and  sending  them  back  to  their  law  offices 
and  courtrooms  in  Chicago.  I  think  they  still  have  the  liberty  of 
enforcing  respect  to  those  lawfully  elected  to  office,  even  if 
Mr.  Gowdy  and  his  minions  do  not  like  it,  and  they  have  the 
liberty  and  the  right  too  of  compelling  the  editor  of  the  Times  to 
show  that  respect  if  they  think  fit.  The  administration  has  far 
more  right  to  arraign  individuals  living  in  the  country  over  which 
it  has  jurisdiction  and  make  them  give  an  account  of  their  actions 
and  treasonable  speeches,  than  these  individuals  have  to  arraign 
the  administration  and  attempt  to  try  and  condemn  legally  ap- 
pointed officials   forming  this  administration.     It  is  evident  to 


Abraham  Lincoln  141 


my  mind  that  it  is  nothing  but  party  jealousy  and  love  of  power 
that  induces  these  old  time  democrats  to  come  forward  at  this 
time  and  speak  and  act  as  they  do.  They  should  be  dealt  with 
severely  and  be  taught  that  even  in  a  republic  respect  should  be 
shown  to  the  government  and  order  and  obedience  enforced. 

When  the  people  learn  to  keep  these  sharks  in  their  places 
and  say  to  these  impudent  men  who  attempt  to  elbow  their  way 
into  every  position  of  power,  that  we  do  not  need  their  ser- 
vices, unless  they  are  willing  to  sustain  the  government.  These 
would-be  politicians  are  often  a  great  curse  to  the  country. 
They  are  the  ones  who  stir  up  turmoil  among  the  people  in  or- 
der to  advance  their  own  interests.  They  are  the  great  lions  of 
destruction  that  roam  about  our  beautiful  constructed  temple  of 
liberty  and  trample  its  glory  under  their  unholy  feet.  It  was 
such  democrats  as  Jefferson  Davis  who  originally  precipitated  the 
present  civil  war.  They  are  the  ones  who  grasp  after  the  scepter 
of  power,  seeking  to  gain  it  through  a  mastery  over  the  minds 
of  the  people.  If  the  people  would  understand  that  there  is  some- 
thing needed  besides  talent,  intellect,  and  brilliant  mental  endow- 
ments in  order  to  constitute  a  safe  statesman,  namely,  an  honest 
and  true  heart,  they  might  be  able  to  select  the  right  men  to  take 
charge  of  the  sacred  interests  of  our  country.  Such  an  one 
is  Abraham  Lincoln,  now  at  the  head  of  the  government. 

Why  is  it  that  the  ingenious  lawyer  should  always  step  for- 
ward and  seek  to  have  preference  in  the  management  of  all  these 
national  affairs?  Why  should  his  trickery  be  permitted  to  de- 
ceive the  people  for  his  selfish  interests?  Why  should  not  the 
educated  and  worthy  farmers  be  chosen,  or  the  practical  busi- 
ness man  to  take  part  in  the  control  of  the  nation?  Shall  the 
wily  fox  of  an  attorney  be  allowed  always  to  feed  off  of  the 
wealth  of  the  government. 

Now,  what  with  all  their  elocution  and  arguments  have  these 
pretended  defenders  of  the  peoples  rights  accomplished,  that 
reflects  honor  upon  themselves  or  advantage  to  the  country? 
They  have  so  far  accomplished  nothing  good,  but  have  continu- 
ally hindered  those  who  work  and  fight  for  a  worthy  object  by 
finding  fault  with  them  continually.  Instead  of  being  a  help 
they  are  a  burden  to  the  country,  unwilling  to  pull  the  load  but 
drawing  back  with  all  their  might.  These  men  having  shown 
their  true  character  to  the  people,  these  discerning  and  treach- 
erous democratic  members  of  the  legislature  of  Illinois  of  1863 
should  be  remembered  and  shunned  in  the  future  as  dangerous. 


142  Abraham  Lincoln 


JANUARY  i,  1865. 
new  year's  address. 

Welcome,  to  thee!     Happy  New  Year! 

Gilded  o'er  with  hopes  so  bright; 
We  hail  thy  dawn  with  merry  cheer, 

And  think  in  THEE  to  find  delight. 

We  bid  the  Old  Year  now  adieu, 
Filled  with  war  and  bloody  strife, 

And  wish  to  find  within  the  New, 
Peace,  Prosperity,  and  Life. 

OUR   COUNTRY. 

Thou,  the  best  of  earth's  creations, 

Country  of  the  brave  and  free; 
Fearless  of  all  foreign  nations, 

Strong  at  home,  and  bold  at  sea. 
Liberty,  thy  banner  seeketh; 
The  oppressed  thy  shelter  seeketh; 

Peace  and  love  should  dwell  in  thee. 
Mark  the  veins  of  mighty  rivers, 

Hastening  through  thy  body  e'er, 
On  whose  flow  the  sunbeam  quivers, 

Gladdening  them  throughout  the  year. 
Mark  thy  ribs  of  lofty  mountains 

Holding  thee  between  their  strength; 
Then  perceive  the  welling  fountains 

Gushing  from  them,  that  at  length — 
Coursing  through  thy  fruitful  regions, 

Swelling  rivers  that  adorn  thee, 
Ruffled  by  the  breezes  pinions 

Reach  the  billows  of  the  sea. 
Mark  the  princely  cities  rising 

On  thy  hills,  and  plains,  and  coast; 
Science,  art,  wealth,  power  comprising, 

Teaming  with  a  busy  host; 
Filled  with  learning — arts  creations — 

Grasping  oceans  with  their  hands; 
Trading  with  all  foreign  nations, 

Buying  produce  of  thy  lands. 
Mark  thy  laws,  the  work  of  sages, 

Gleaned  from  out  the  mighty  past, 
Chosen  from  the  lore  of  ages, 

Molded  in  a  freeman's  cast. 


Abraham  Lincoln  143 


See  how  equity  doth  glisten; 
To  their  Freedom  only  listen; 
See  what  beauties  in  them  hover; 
Monarch's  faults  they  do  not  cover; 
All  men  equally  they  measure, 
And  no  Lord's  or  Baron's  treasure 
Keeps  one  from  that  fatal  measure. 
Mark  how  grand  thy  Constitution, 

Living  in  immortal  life; 
Nothing  of  a  Court's  pollution 

Mars  its  beauty.    Is  their  strife? — 
Strife,  blood,  war,  and  horrid  treason — 

Now  for  this  is  there  good  reason? 
Some  men,  like  the  damned  in  Milton, 

Rule  or  ruin  their  design; 
Hurl  these  from  our  glorious  nation, 

Else  its  strength  to  them  resign. 
In  the  Constitution,  dwelleth 
Mighty  powers;  and  truth  it  telleth; 
Fiercest  passions  now  it  quelleth, 
Yet  no  rights  to  treason  selleth. 
Will  you  ?  guardians  of  this  glory, 

Grant  the  marring  of  its  name? 
Making  history  tell  the  story, 

How  they  sought  to  soil  its  fame? 
Nor  be  blind  to  England's  envy; 

Or  the  scheming  of  the  French: 
England  with  her  mighty  navy 

Hopes  thy  power  from  thee  to  wrench; 
And  the  French  are  creeping  slyly, 
Handled  by  their  Emperor  wily, 
To  the  vile  rebellious  regions, 
There  to  swell  the  rebel  legions. 
Mexico,  he  now  has  conquered, 

And  has  planted  there  a  throne, 
Spurning  Monroe's  doctrine — honored 

Not  enough  by  men  at  home, — 
But  which  shall  remain  unshaken, 
And  no  force  from  it  be  taken. 
Liberty  breaks  thrones  in  pieces, 

Rends  the  shackles  of  the  slave; 
Think  not  he  who  holds  them  ceases 

To  plot  our  fall  this  power  to  save. 
Ye  sons  of  Liberty,  awake! 
And  with  free  principles  all  nations  shake. 


144  Abraham  Lincoln 


the  WAR. 

Thou,  O  muse !    who  tuned  for  Homer, 

Dolefully  the  lyre  of  war, 
Make  my  harp,  with  stirring  humor, 

Sound  abroad  that  dirge  once  more. 


Four  years  since  began  the  warring, 

Traitors  scaling  Freedom's  walls; 
Still  its  Temples  now  they're  storming, 

Fighting,  till  their  last  one  falls. 
Honor  ye,  the  heroes  valiant 

Who  have  fought  them  'neath  the  stars ; 
Gained  for  Union,  conquests  brilliant, 

Following  boldly  war-god  Mars. 
Sherman's  soldiers  !     Greet  them  loudly ! 
They  have  fought,  and  bled  most  proudly ! 
And  midst  blood  and  battles'  clamor, 
Gained  Savannah  through  their  valor; 
Remember,  too,  the  many  conquests 

Gained  within  the  flitted  year; 
The  hero's  corps  of  us  requests 

These  victories  aloud  to  cheer. 
Ah,  many  battles,  bloody,  fearful, 
Many  scenes,  at  home  all  tearful, 
Many  towns,  and  cities  wasted, 
Many  draughts  of  anguish  tasted, 
Many  souls  to  judgment  hasted — 
Follow,  this  dread  war  'gainst  traitors, 

'Gainst  misguided  Union  haters : 
But  we'll  leave  this  doleful  subject, 

Hoping  ere  this  year  is  o'er, 
We'll  have  gained  our  worthy  object, 

And  of  war  to  know  no  more. 


HILDENE 

MANCHESTER 

VERMONT 

August  3rd,    1916. 

David  E.      Gibson,   Esq., 
Gibson,    Sykes  &  Fowler  Studios, 
Chicago. 

Dear  Sir: 

Replying  to  your  letter  of  Aug- 
ust 1st,  in  which  you  enclose  a  copy  of  a 
letter  you  are  sending  to  Mr.  Bartow  A. Ul- 
rica regarding  a  photograph  of  President 
Lincoln;  I  have  no  objection  to  your  giv- 
ing  Mr.  Ulrich  any  photograph  you  have. 
Very  truly  yours. 


/[tfiw\ffi»Kfis 


// 


1865 


From  last  painting  of  president  in  possession  of  Hon.  Robert  T.  Lincoln 


Abraham  Lincoln  145 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


LAST  INTERVIEW  WITH  LINCOLN. 


Some  time  after  my  return  from  Heidelberg,  Germany,  I 
visited  Washington,  as  I  was  seeking  an  appointment  as  consul 
at  one  of  the  German  ports.  This  was  in  February,  1865,  just 
two  months  before  Mr.  Lincoln's  assassination.  I  met  Mr. 
John  Hay,  then  private  secretary,  whom  I  knew  in  Springfield 
before  his  appointment,  and  was  taken  into  the  President's  au- 
dience chamber  by  Congressman  Longyear  of  Michigan. 

After  I  was  formally  introduced,  Mr.  Lincoln  said  he  knew 
the  members  of  my  family  in  Springfield  very  well,  and  that  he 
had  often  met  them,  and  spoke  especially  of  my  eldest  sister 
Mary,  and  gave  several  incidents  that  had  occurred  in  the  Spring- 
field social  life.  He  told  a  number  of  stories  and  jokes  while 
Congressman  Longyear  and  several  others  and  myself  were  in 
the  room.  He  spoke  in  a  very  high  falsetto  key  most  of  the  time, 
and  made  everyone  feel  perfectly  at  home. 

In  regard  to  this  tone  of  voice,  one  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  colleagues 
says:  "He  used,  in  his  excitement  (1836)  for  the  first  time  that 
singularly  effective  clear  tenor  tone  of  voice  which  afterward 
became  so  widely  known  in  the  political  battles  of  the  West." 

He  read  over  my  recommendations,  which  were  signed  by 
Senator  Lyman  Trumbull,  Governor  Richard  Yates,  Lieutenant 
Governor  Bross,  formerly  of  the  Chicago  Tribune,  and  others. 
He  said  he  would  try  to  give  me  a  consulship  in  Germany. 
Seeing  the  German  pamphlet  which  I  had  prepared,  and  which 
had  been  circulated  as  a  campaign  document  before  his  election, 
he  remarked  that  he  had  commenced  to  study  that  language, 
but  had  not  advanced  further  than  to  say,  "Sprechen  Sie  Deutsch, 
mein  Herr?"  He  finally  doubled  up  my  papers  and  wrote  the 
following  on  the  back  of  them :  Address  to  Hon.  Wm.  H.  Sew- 
ard. "Will  the  secretary  of  state  please  see  and  hear  the  bearer, 
Mr.  Ulrich,  and  oblige  him  if  he  conveniently  can?  He  is  a 
young  man  residing  in  the  place  of  my  residence,  Springfield, 
and  of  a  most  respectable  family,  as  he  is  also  himself."  Signed, 
Abraham  Lincoln,  February  1,  1865. 

I  considered  this  a  very  good  introduction  to  the  secretary  of 
state,  William  M.  Seward.  I  subsequently  had  an  interview 
with  Mr.  Frederick  W.  Seward,  the  secretary's  son,  who  placed 


146  Abraham  Lincoln 


my  papers  on  file.     He  said  I  would  receive  a  position  under  the 
Government,  without  doubt,  in  some  part  of  Germany. 
To  His  Excellency, 

Abraham  Lincoln,  President. 

We  respectfully  petition  your  Excellency  to  appoint  Bartow 
A.  Ulrich  of  the  City  of  Chicago,  a  Consul  at  one  of  the  German 
sea-port  cities.  He  is  familiar  with  the  German  language,  has 
traveled  in  Germany  and  lived  there  for  two  years  at  Heidelberg. 
He  took  great  interest  in  the  late  Campaign  and  distributed  Ger- 
man campaign  pamphlets  of  his  own  production  among  the 
Germans  of  Illinois,  advocating  your  election.  He  has  published 
an  important  book  used  in  the  Campaign,  bearing  the  endorse- 
ment of  the  Honorable  Governor  Richard  Yates,  entitled  "A 
Treatise  on  Government,  Showing  the  Superiority  of  the  United 
States  Government  over  all  others." 

We  are  confident  that  should  Mr.  Ulrich  receive  this  appoint- 
ment he  will  fill  it  with  credit  to  himself  and  to  his  country.  He 
seems  qualified,  both  on  account  of  his  knowledge  of  the  Ger- 
man language  and  his  understanding  of  the  law  and  general  busi- 
ness. We  therefore  recommend  him  to  Your  Excellency  for 
said  position. 

Respectfully, 
I.  Y.  Scammon  Richard  Yates 

Geo.  C.  Bates  Wm.  Bross 

Geo.  Schneider  Lyman  Trumbell 

Charles  L.  Williams 


COUNTING   THE    ELECTORAL   VOTE. 

On  February  8,  1865,  the  capitol  was  crowded  with  visitors 
and  congressmen  on  account  of  the  counting  of  the  presidential 
vote.  I  went  to  the  House  of  Representatives  early  before  the 
crowd  came  in.  At  12  o'clock  the  House  was  called  to  order,  and 
the  Chaplain,  Rev.  Dr.  Channing,  delivered  a  prayer,  then  the 
regular  business  commenced.  At  one  o'clock  the  members  of  the 
Senate  marched  in,  quietly  taking  their  seats  with  the  represent- 
atives. The  Vice-President  occupied  the  speaker's  seat,  and  the 
tellers  took  their  places  in  front  of  him.  Then  the  whole  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States  being  collected,  it  was  called  to  order, 
and  the  Vice-President  commenced  opening  the  envelopes  con- 
taining the  electoral  votes  of  each  state,  handing  them  to  Mr. 
Trumbull. 

The  returns  from  the  loyal  states,  including  West  Virginia, 
were  counted,  showing  212  electoral  votes  for  Lincoln  and  21 


Abraham  Lincoln  147 


for  Gen.  George  B.  McClellan.  The  Vice-President  announced 
that  Abraham  Lincoln,  of  the  state  of  Illinois,  having  received 
a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  electoral  votes,  was  duly 
elected  President  of  the  United  States,  for  four  years,  commenc- 
ing on  the  4th  day  of  March,  1865. 

Mr.  Trumbull  read  the  ballots  and  announced  the  results  to  the 
vast  audience.  All  the  states  were  for  Lincoln  and  Johnson,  ex- 
cept New  Jersey,  Delaware,  and  Kentucky,  which  three  states 
went  for  McClellan  and  Pendleton.  After  the  votes  were  all 
separately  reported,  the  total  was  announced,  and  the  two  great 
bodies,  the  House  and  Senate,  separated,  the  senators  slowly 
leaving  the  hall  two  by  two.  I  felt  highly  favored  on  account  of 
being  a  witness  to  this  interesting  sight  which  completed  the  elec- 
tion of  Mr.  Lincoln  the  second  time  as  President  of  the  United 
States. 

The  following  night  I  attended  the  reception  at  the  White 
House,  and  shook  hands  with  the  President  and  Mrs.  Lincoln, 
who  sent  her  respects  to  my  mother,  whom  she  said  she  knew 
very  well  in  Springfield.  I  met  Robert  Lincoln,  whom  I  already 
knew,  and  Mr.  John  Hay  and  Mr.  Nicolay. 

Among  the  great  crowd  assembled  were  many  foreign  minis- 
ters with  their  wives  and  daughters,  as  well  as  congressmen,  cab- 
inet officers,  and  military  men.  There  was  a  great  crowd  in  the 
outer  room,  but  the  distinguished  personages,  including  the  Sec- 
retary of  State  and  naval  officers  were  in  the  blue  room. 

Probably  at  this  time  in  Washington  the  plot  was  being 
formed  by  some  of  his  enemies  to  assassinate  Lincoln  and  some 
members  of  the  cabinet  including  Secretary  W.  H.  Seward,  but 
no  one  seemed  to  anticipate  the  terrible  calamity  which  occurred 
at  a  time  when  the  fratracidal  war  seemed  to  be  at  an  end  and 
peace  was  dawning  upon  the  country. 


LINCOLN  S   RESPONSE  TO    COMMITTEE   NOTIFYING   HIM   OF   HIS  RE- 
ELECTION. 

"With  deep  gratitude  to  my  countrymen  for  this  mark  of  their 
confidence  with  a  distrust  of  my  own  ability  to  perform  the  du- 
ties required,  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances,  and  now 
rendered  doubly  difficult  by  existing  national  perils,  yet  with  a 
firm  reliance  on  the  strength  of  our  free  government,  and  the 
eventual  loyalty  of  the  people  to  the  just  principals  upon  which 
it  is  founded,  and  above  all  with  our  unshaken  faith  in  the  su- 
preme ruler  of  nations,  I  accept  this  trust.  Be  pleased  to  signify 
this  to  the  respective  Houses  of  Congress." 


148  Abraham  Lincoln 


uncoln's  repi<y  to  serenade. 

In  answer  to  a  serenade  on  the  evening  of  his  reelection,  Mr. 
Lincoln  said: 

"I  am  thankful  to  God  for  this  approval  by  the  people.  While 
deeply  grateful  for  this  mark  of  a  confidence  in  me,  if  I  know 
my  heart,  my  gratitude  is  free  from  taint  of  personal  triumph, 
but  I  give  thanks  to  the  Almighty  for  this  evidence  of  the  peo- 
ple's resolution  to  stand  by  free  government  and  the  rights  of 
humanity." 


Abraham  Lincoln  149 


CHAPTER  XV. 


PRESIDENT    LINCOLN    VISITS    RICHMOND    WITH    ADMIRAL    PORTER, 

APRIL   4TH,    1865 SHERIDAN    OVERTAKES   AND   DEFEATS    GEN. 

EWELL — GEN.  LEE  ASKED  TO  SURRENDER  BY  GEN.  GRANT — GEN- 
ERALS ORD  AND  GRIFFIN  STOP  GENERAL  LEE  ON  THE  SOUTH — 
GENERAL  MEAD  STOPS  HIM  ON  THE  NORTH — LEE  SURRENDERS 

RICHMOND    EVACUATED — DAVIS     CAPTURED — ASSASSINATION 

OP  PRESIDENT  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


April  3,  1865,  the  Fifth  Massachusetts  Cavalry  reconnoitered 
and  discovering  the  flight  of  the  rebels  took  possession  of  Rich- 
mond. The  Union  troops  were  everywhere  joyfully  received. 
President  Lincoln  visited  the  captured  city  with  Senator  Sumner, 
Admiral  Porter,  and  little  Tad  Lincoln.  The  people  thronged 
about  him  and  General  Weitzel's  men  had  to  clear  a  passage  for 
him  through  the  streets. 

W.  O.  Stoddard,  who  was  his  private  secretary,  in  his  life  of 
Lincoln,  gives  a  vivid  picture  of  him  in  Richmond.  He  says : 
"The  President  took  his  hat  off  reverently  to  those  who  sur- 
rounded him,  men  and  women,  weeping  and  shouting  praises  to 
God,  and  bowed  but  he  could  not  speak,  for  the  tears  were  rolling 
down  his  cheeks.  The  liberator  had  come  suddenly  among  a 
people  whose  bonds  he  had  broken,  and  to  whom  he  had  opened 
a  hope  of  manhood  and  womanhood  in  the  days  that  were  to  be. 
It  was  a  day,  an  hour  worth  living  and  dying  for,  and  was  given 
him  to  see  it.  He  returned  to  City  Point  that  night,  but  paid  the 
city  another  visit  three  days  later  and  with  Mrs.  Lincoln  and  Tad, 
accompanied  by  Vice-President  Johnson  and  others." 

This  was  only  about  one  week  before  the  President  was  as- 
sassinated by  Booth.  The  enlistments  were  stopped  and  the  re- 
duction and  disbandment  of  the  Union  army  commenced. 

Colonel  Charles  Francis  Adams,  grandson  of  President  John 
Quincy  Adams,  entered  Richmond  with  a  colored  regiment. 
President  Davis  left  Richmond  April  2,  1865.  The  rebel  con- 
gress gave  orders  to  set  fire  to  the  tobacco  and  cotton  ware- 
houses and  other  public  properties.    The  result  was  a  great  con- 


150  Abraham  Lincoln 


flagration.    Seven  hundred  buildings  were  destroyed.    There  was 
robbery  and  panic  in  the  city. 

Sheridan  overtakes  and  defeats  General  Ewell. 

General  Lee  asked  to  surrender  by  General  Grant. 
April  7: 

General  Lee  finally  surrenders  his  army  of  28,230  Confederate 

men  at  Appomattox. 


CAPTURE  OF  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"On  the  first  Sunday  of  April  18,  1865,  while  seated  in  St. 
Paul's  church,  Jefferson  Davis  received  a  telegram  from  Gen- 
eral Lee  announcing  the  fall  of  Petersburg,  the  partial  destruc- 
tion of  his  army  and  the  immediate  necessity  of  flight.  He  left 
the  house  of  worship  and  hurried  home  where  he  and  his  person- 
al staff  of  servants  spent  the  rest  of  the  day  in  packing  their 
personal  baggage.  At  midnight  everything  was  in  readiness, 
even  the  gold  that  remained  in  the  treasury,  not  exceeding  in  all 
forty  thousand  dollars,  which  was  packed  among  the  baggage, 
and  under  cover  of  darkness  the  president  of  the  confederacy 
attended  by  three  members  of  his  cabinet,  Breckinridge,  Benja- 
min, and  Regan,  drove  rapidly  to  the  train  which  had  been  pre- 
pared to  carry  them  from  Richmond. 

A  few  days  thereafter  the  news  of  the  expected  calamity  of 
General  Lee's  surrender  reached  them  when  they  turned  their 
faces  again  toward  the  South.  Breckinridge  was  sent  to  confer 
with  Johnson,  but  found  him  in  time  to  assist  in  drawing  up  the 
terms  of  his  celebrated  capitulation  to  Sherman.  (Major  Gen- 
eral James  Harrison  Wilson). 

Jefferson  Davis  was  aroused  in  the  early  gray  of  the  morning 
by  a  faithful  negro  servant  (the  same  who  afterwards  attended 
his  broken  fortunes),  who  had  been  awakened  by  the  sound  of 
firing  in  the  woods.  The  President  had  not  laid  off  his  clothes, 
and  in  a  moment  he  had  issued  from  the  tent  where  he  was 
sleeping.  The  woods  were  filled  with  mounted  troops  and  no- 
ticing that  they  were  deploying  as  if  to  surround  the  camp  he 
quickly  imagined  their  character  and  design  and  returned  within 
the  tent,  either  to  alarm  Mistress  Davis,  or  there  to  submit  de- 
cently to  capture.  She  besought  him  to  escape,  and  pointing  to  an 
opening  in  the  tent,  threw  over  his  shoulders  a  shawl  which  he 
had  been  accustomed  to  wear.  His  horse,  a  fleet  and  spirited  one, 
was  tied  to  a  tree  at  some  distance.  He  was  within  a  few  steps  of 
the  animal  that  might  have  borne  him  out  of  danger  when  a  fed- 
eral soldier  halted  him  and  demanded  to  know  if  he  was  armed. 


Abraham  Lincoln  151 

Davis  is  reported  as  saying  "If  I  were  armed,  you  would  not  be 
living  to  ask  the  question".  Colonel  Pritchard  commanding  the 
body  of  cavalry,  rode  up  and  addressed  him  by  name,  demand- 
ing his  surrender. 

He  submitted,  walked  back  to  the  tent,  and  in  the  presence  of 
his  wife  asked  Colonel  Pritchard  if  she  might  continue  her  jour- 
ney. The  reply  of  the  Colonel  was  that  his  orders  were  to  arrest 
all  the  party.  Mr.  Davis  rejoined  with  sarcasm:  "Then,  Sir, 
what  has  been  said  is  true :  your  government  does  make  war  up- 
on women". 

The  unhappy  prisoner  after  these  words  was  coldly  silent, 
asking  no  questions  of  his  fate.  Not  intruded  upon  by  any  curi- 
osity of  the  captors,  conversing  only  to  the  faithful  and  devoted 
wife,  from  whom  he  was  not  yet  divided,  and  whose  whispers  of 
affectionate  solicitude  by  his  side  were  all  to  lighten  the  journey 
as  he  rode  moodily  in  the  cavalcade  back  to  Macon,  where  first 
he  was  to  learn  the  extent  of  his  misery  and  to  commence  the 
dread  career  of  the  penalties  he  had  accumulated  by  four  long 
and  bitter  years  of  war.     (Phila.  Times  Annals  of  the  War.) 

In  another  article  Mr.  Regan  says  "if  it  is  meant  by  this  state- 
ment simply  that  the  money  in  the  treasury  (gold  and  all)  was 
taken  with  the  archives  of  public  property  away  from  Rich- 
mond by  the  proper  department  officers  the  statement  is  correct, 
but  if  it  meant  by  this  insidious  form  of  statement  to  be  under- 
stood that  this  or  any  other  public  money  was  taken  from  Rich- 
mond in  Mr.  Davis's  baggage  then  the  statement  was  wholly 
false."     (Pollard.) 

Since  March  29th,  19,132  men  had  surrendered,  making  in  all 
47»363.  General  Ord  and  Griffin  had  stopped  General  Lee  on 
the  south  and  General  Meade  stopped  them  in  the  north  while 
Sheridan  had  taken  Lee's  supplies. 

ASSASSINATION  OF  PRESIDENT  UNCOLN. 

On  April  14,  1865  President  Abraham  Lincoln  was  assassin- 
ated by  John  Wilkes  Booth  at  Ford's  theatre. 

Nearly  nineteen  hundred  years  after  the  martyrdom  of  Christ 
Jesus,  the  great  advocate  of  complete  liberty,  including  freedom 
from  sin,  Abraham  Lincoln  appeared  in  the  political  arena  of  the 
United  States,  boldly  defending  the  Union  and  liberty,  and  hurl- 
ing defiance  in  the  face  of  a  slave  aristocracy,  knowing  at  the 
time  that  under  the  circumstances,  it  might  cost  him  his  life. 
Finally,  as  the  President  of  the  United  States,  he  overthrew  the 
slave  power  of  the  South,  liberated  the  negro,  and  saved  the 
Union.  He  was  assassinated  by  enemies  favoring  the  South,  but 
not  by  the  leaders  of  the  rebellion.  Thus  he,  too,  was  sacrificed 
for  maintaining  higher  ideas  of  justice  and  liberty. 

Had  he  not  stood  forth  in  defiance  of  rebellion  and  slavery, 
when  the  Chief  Executive  of  the  Nation,  the  Union  might  have 


152  Abraham  Lincoln 


been  destroyed  and  slavery  retained  in  America  for  the  time  be- 
ing. 

For  detail  description  of  President  Lincoln's  assassination  and 
events  transpiring  at  the  close  of  his  administration  see  following. 
Memorial  Address  by  Bancroft,  1866. 
Recollections  of  Lincoln,  1847-65,  by  Lamon,  1895. 
History  of  Lincoln  by  Nicolay  and  Hay,  1890. 
Every-day  Life  of  Lincoln,  by  F.  F.  Browne. 
History  of  Lincoln,  by  Arnold,  1867. 
Essay  on  Lincoln,  by  Carl  Schurz,  1891. 
Fifty  Years  Public  Service/ by  Senator  S.  M.  Cullom. 


1916 

Photograph  by  Gibson,  Sykes  and  Fowler 


Part  II 
Constitutional  Government 


Preface 


PREFACE 

Government  by  a  written  constitution,  as  now  understood,  in 
place  of  a  personal  government,  or  Sovereignty,  has  been  a  factor 
of  slow  and  bitterly  contested  growth  for  promoting  the  liberty 
of  the  individual  and  a  representative  government,  in  opposition 
to  monarchical  precedents.  This  plan  of  government  or  an  ideal 
Republic  has  long  existed  in  the  minds  of  men  and  has  struggled 
for  realization  for  centuries.  It  was  foreshadowed  in  the  old  Ro- 
man and  Greek  republics  and  in  the  various  charters  granted  by 
kings  of  England  from  William  the  First,  (1066-1089)  until  1215, 
when  King  John  was  compelled  to  grant  the  written  "Magna 
Charta"  at  Runnymede.  It  was  later  introduced  in  the  articles 
of  confederation  between  the  forest  cantons  of  Uri,  Schwyz 
and  Unterwalden  in  1291,  which  confederation  was  gradually 
built  up  subsequently  through  the  annexation  of  new  cantons 
until  now  twenty-two  comprise  the  republic  of  Switzerland. 

This  scheme  of  government,  however,  which  had  floated  as  a 
glorious  vision  in  the  imagination  of  the  sons  of  men  dissatisfied 
with  monarchical  rule  for  so  long  a  period,  was  never  realized  nor 
materially  established  on  so  elaborate  a  scale  that  all  the  world 
was  compelled  to  recognize  it,  until  the  founding  of  the  Represen- 
tative Democracy  of  the  United  States  of  America.  It  eliminated 
a  personal  sovereign  forever,  after  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence, July  4th,  1776,  and  the  successful  termination  of  the  Revo- 
lution, precipitated  by  the  tyrannical  demands  made  upon  his  sub- 
ject colonies  by  George  the  Third,  in  defiance  of  well  established 
constitutional  precedents. 

The  Articles  of  "Confederation  and  Perpetual  Union,"  rati- 
fied March  1st,  1781,  and  the  subsequent  Constitution  made  to 
form  a  more  perfect  union  and  ratified  by  all  the  states  in  1788 
was  tested  to  its  utmost  capacity  by  the  unprecedented  civil  war 
of  1861. 

The  contention  between  the  Northern  and  Southern  states  was 
the  right  of  secession.  The  extension  of  slavery  into  the  terri- 
tories was  also  contested  and  decided  in  the  affirmative  by  Chief 
Justice  Taney  in  the  Dred  Scott  case  March  6th,  1857. 

The  Supreme  Court  held : — 

1.  That  negroes  had  not  been  regarded  as  citizens  by  the 
framers  of  the  Constitution,  and  that,  therefore,  they  could  not 
bring  suit  in  a  United  States  Court. 


ii  Preface 


2.  That  the  Constitution  recognizes  the  right  of  property  in 
slaves,  and  recognizes  no  difference  between  such  property  and 
any  other,  and  that  therefore  Congress  could  not  limit  the  right  of 
property  in  slaves,  even  in  the  territories. 

3.  That  the  Missouri  Compromise,  limiting  the  right  of  prop- 
erty in  slaves,  was  unconstitutional,  and  therefore  null  and  void ; 
and  that,  therefore,  slave  owners  could  carry  their  slaves  into 
any  part  of  the  territories,  and  hold  them  as  such  without  re- 
gard to  the  line  established  by  the  Missouri  Compromise. 

Justices  McLean  and  Curtis'  dissenting  opinion. — 

1st.  That  free  negroes  had  been  citizens  before  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution. 

2nd.  That  the  Constitution  had  not  limited  the  rights  of  such 
negroes  as  citizens. 

3rd.  That  as  many  as  seven  Acts  had  been  passed  by  Congress 
limiting  slavery  in  the  territories,  and  that  these  Acts  had  been 
assented  to  by  Presidents  who  had  been  in  Constitutional  Con- 
vention. 

4th.  That  the  constitutionality  of  these  Acts  had  never  been 
questioned. 

5th.  That  the  validity  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  not 
before  the  court,  and  that  the  dissenting  justices  did  not  hold  any 
opinion  of  this  court,  or  of  any  court,  binding  when  expressed 
on  a  question  not  legitimately  before  it. 

The  Supreme  Court  decided  by  a  mere  majority  vote  that  nei- 
ther congress  nor  the  territorial  legislature  can  interfere  with 
slavery  in  any  of  the  territories  of  the  United  States.  This  ques- 
tion should  have  been  submitted  directly  to  the  citizens  of  the 
entire  country,  as  is  now  done  in  Switzerland  under  their  con- 
stitution through  referendum,  as  the  people  possess  the  sover- 
eign power.  The  prominent  political  issues  of  today  should 
now  be  submitted  to  the  voters  through  a  referendum.  No  one 
has  deprived  the  people  of  this  sovereign  power.  No  one  will 
attempt  it. 

The  slave  states  declared  their  right  to  secede  from  the  Union 
and  did  secede.  They  knew  they  could  not  carry  out  the  anti- 
democratic decision  eminating  from  the  judicial  branch  of  a  free 
Republic  which  on  this  occasion  assumed  the  power  of  an  oli- 
garchy, or  a  majority  of  the  Supreme  Court  assume  this  power, 
for  there  was  a  dissenting  opinion  given  by  Justices  McLean  and 
Curtis.  One  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  our  republic  and 
all  republics  was  ruthlessly  set  aside. 

Abraham  Lincoln  in  his  convention  speech,  said:  "A  house 
divided  against  itself  cannot  stand"  and,  that,  "this  government 
cannot  endure  permanently  half  slave  and  half  free." 

No  English  court  would  have  assumed  the  responsibility  of 


Preface  iii 


rendering  such  an  archaic  and  despotic  decision  in  the  nineteenth 
century :  that  there  was  no  difference  between  property  in  slaves 
(human  beings)  and  any  other  property. 

"President  Lincoln  practically  disregarded  the  Dred  Scott  deci- 
sion in  the  policy  of  his  administration  with  reference  to  slavery, 
and  he  was  no  doubt  justified  in  doing  so.  That  decision  has 
not  and  could  not  have  any  direct  bearing  on  the  duties  of  the 
executive  department."  (McClain,  Constitutional  Law  in  Amer- 
ica, page  202.) 

The  word  "slave"  is  not  used  in  the  constitution,  nor  does  the 
constitution  imply  that  there  is  no  difference  between  property  in 
slaves  and  other  property,  because  there  is,  for  no  slaveholder 
could  kill  a  slave  as  he  could  kill  an  ox.  This  entire  opinion  was 
an  attempt  to  put  into  the  constitution  something  never  intended 
by  its  framers.  Other  property  could  be  taken  into  British  pos- 
sessions but  slaves,  who  instantly  became  free. 

The  Civil  War  followed,  through  a  chain  of  events  not  neces- 
sary to  be  retraced  here,  since  they  belong  in  another  department 
of  history.  After  four  years  of  conflict  the  union  was  re-estab- 
lished on  a  firmer  footing,  and  the  constitution  so  amended  as  to 
make  the  government  an  absolutely  representative  democracy. 

This  triumph  set  in  motion  forces  that  shall  profoundly  affect 
other  nations  for  all  time.  The  example  of  a  complete  represen- 
tative democracy  standing  upon  a  basic  law  that  guaranteed  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  all  the  people,  without  discrimination,  set- 
ting aside  the  archaic  decree  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  1857,  while 
leaving  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  through  equal  universal  suf- 
frage, the  power  to  make  such  changes  as  time  and  events  might 
show  to  be  necessary  and  to  make  the  Constitution  consistent 
throughout,  has  been  followed  by  three  continental  European 
States,  and  through  a  gradual  process  of  elimination  by  substitu- 
tion, has  radically  changed  the  monarchical  form  in  many  of  the 
others.  This  change  has  generally  been  brought  about  peace- 
fully through  evolution,  not  by  civil  war  and  revolution. 

It  prevails  throughout  all  the  states  of  the  Western  Hemi- 
sphere, on  the  continent  of  Europe  and  in  China.  Great  Britain 
has  no  regularly  consolidated  written  constitution,  but  has  its 
elaborate  Magna  Charta,  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act  (1679),  the 
"Bill  of  Rights,"  granted  by  William  and  Mary  (1689),  and  the 
"Petition  of  Rights"  (1628).  These  instruments  were  called  by 
Lord  Chatham  "the  Bible  of  English  Constitutions,"  and  with 
other  charters  and  statutes  contain  the  elements  of  constitutional 
liberty.  England  has  shown  preference  for  this  form  of  govern- 
ment by  granting  to  Canada  and  Australia  and  New  Zealand  lib- 
eral constitutions  creating  separate,  independent  nations  with 
local  self-governments  which,  however,  voluntarily  remain  inte- 


iv  Preface 


gers  of  the  British  Empire.  They  have  all  shown  their  devo- 
tion and  loyalty  in  the  mother  country. 

The  rise  and  spread  of  this  new  theory  and  practice  of  govern- 
ment is  the  most  significant  development  of  the  last  hundred  years 
— perhaps  of  all  history.  The  purpose  of  the  present  work  is  to 
disclose  the  facts  in  connection  with  it,  and  to  so  group  them  that 
their  meanings  and  their  effects  on  each  other  and  the  world  shall 
be  made  clear.  Their  compilation  and  the  research  it  imposed  be- 
gan in  1863,  and  have  been  carried  along  continuously  and  care- 
fully down  to  and  following  the  inclusion  of  Portugal  and  China 
in  the  family  of  republics. 

In  1863  I  was  a  student  in  the  law  department  of  Michigan 
University.  Upon  graduation  from  that  department,  each  student 
was  required  to  write  a  thesis.  Having  previously  studied  at  the 
University  of  Heidelberg  in  Germany  in  1858-60,  I  became  inter- 
ested in  the  various  forms  of  government  in  Europe,  and  I  chose 
for  my  theme  "A  Comparison  Between  the  Form  of  Govern- 
ment of  the  Republic  or  Representative  Democracy  of  the  United 
States  and  Those  of  Other  Nations." 

My  thesis  was  submitted  to  Professor  Thomas  Maclntire 
Cooley,  LL.  D. ;  James  Valentine  Campbell,  LL.  D.,  and  Charles 
Irish  Walker,  LL.  D.,  of  the  Law  Department,  and  at  their  sug- 
gestion several  changes  were  made. 

These  suggestions  brought  about  a  further  investigation  which 
finally  led  to  the  production  of  this  work,  to  which  I  have  de- 
voted a  great  amount  of  close  application,  tracing  the  events 
creating  liberal  constitutions  in  the  last  half  century. 

The  Civil  War  then  drawing  toward  its  close  naturally  caused 
my  mind,  like  many  others,  to  follow  closely  the  progress  of 
events.  Even  then,  under  the  critical  conditions  through  which 
the  nation  was  passing,  the  steadfast  attitude  of  our  great  patriot 
and  statesman,  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  the  development  of  his 
clear  understanding  of  constitutional  government  engrossed  my 
attention  and  confirmed  my  conviction  that  our  representative 
democracy,  with  its  written  constitution  (subsequently  amended) 
is  preferable  to  any  other  form  of  government  that  has  been  suc- 
cessfully tested.  It  is  the  abuse  of  this  form  of  government 
which  excites  criticism. 

The  re-establishment  of  the  federal  government  over  all  the 
United  States  of  America  with  the  continuation  of  the  republic 
intact,  demonstrated  the  capability  of  a  popular  representative 
democracy  to  maintain  its  life,  its  cherished  institutions,  and  its 
equilibrium  in  the  most  adverse  circumstances.  Under  the  con- 
stitution order  was  brought  about  and  the  reconstruction  of  the 
seceded  states  accomplished  in  much  less  time  than  was  taken  to 
restore  the  former  government  of  England   (with  its  sovereign 


Preface 


power  lodged  in  an  individual)  after  the  thirteen  years  of 
Cromwell's  rule  which  followed  the  execution  of  Charles  the 
First,  or  in  France  after  the  fall  of  Louis  the  Sixteenth. 

Their  throne  was  not  restored  to  the  Bourbons  until  1814, 
when  Louis  XVIII.  was  crowned  King,  and  later  when  Louis 
Philippe  took  his  place,  being  the  last  of  the  race  who  reigned  in 
France.     Since  1871  France  has  been  a  constitutional  republic. 

Many  things  have  changed  and  history  has  been  rapidly  cre- 
ated since  our  civil  war.  I  have  endeavored  in  this  book  to 
trace  these  changes,  to  show  their  world-interactions,  and  their 
steady  trend  in  the  direction  of  liberal  representative  constitu- 
tional government  with  equal  universal  suffrage. 

It  is  evident  that  the  effect  of  our  American  initiative  in 
this  has  been  especially  and  beneficially  felt  by  France,  Ger- 
many, Japan,  the  South  and  Central  American  countries,  Belgium, 
Portugal,  Russia  and  China,  as  well  as  the  self-governing  states 
comprising  the  British  Empire. 

It  has  been  necessary  in  order  to  complete  the  work,  satisfac- 
torily to  draw  largely  from  well-known  and  accredited  writers 
and  to  study  thoroughly  current  literature  treating  upon  this  com- 
plicated subject.  In  order  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  different 
forms  of  government  so  as  to  compare  them,  I  have  read  the 
books  treating  upon  this  subject  that  were  in  the  University 
Library  at  Ann  Arbor.  These  were  the  works  of  Montesquieu, 
de  Tocqueville,  Bacon  and  de  Lorme,  The  Federalist,  Story  on 
the  Constitution,  Anser  on  Government,  also  the  messages  and 
speeches  of  George  Washington,  Daniel  Webster,  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, William  H.  Seward,  Charles  Sumner  and  other  statesmen 
to  whom  special  authority  in  this  field  is  accredited. 

Conspicuous  among  the  many  other  authors  subsequently  con- 
sulted are  John  Fiske,  (American  Political  Ideas)  ;  A.  Lawrence 
Lowell  of  Harvard  University,  (Governments  and  Parties  in 
Continental  Europe)  ;  Walter  Fairleigh  Dodd  (Modern  Consti- 
tutions, Press  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  1908),  Prof.  Fred- 
erick Austin  Ogg  (Governments  of  Europe),  James  Bryce 
(American  Commonwealth),  William  Stubbs,  M.  A.,  Oxford, 
1870  (Select  Charters);  Emlin  McClain,  LL.D.  (Constitutional 
Law  in  the  United  States)  ;  T.  W.  Cooley  of  Michigan  Univer- 
sity (Comparative  Merits  of  Written  Constitutions)  ;  B.  E.  How- 
ard (The  German  Empire). 

The  bibliography  is  not  comprehensive,  but  I  desire  to  acknowl- 
edge special  obligation  to  the  authorities  above  mentioned. 

For  events  of  to-day  bearing  on  new  Constitutions  and  gov- 
ernmental changes   I  wish  to  acknowledge  help  received   from 


vi  Preface 

news  gathered  from  the  Christian  Science  Monitor  and  the  Lit- 
erary Digest. 

Bartow  A.  Ulrich. 

January,  1914. 

The  following  letter  from  Governor  Yates  will  explain  itself: 

State  of  Iujnois,  Executive  Department 

Springfteu),  June  30,  1864. 
Bartow  A.  Ulrich,  Esq.  : 

Dear  Sir:  I  have  just  finished  the  reading  of  your  manu- 
script, entitled,  "A  Short  and  Practical  Treatise  on  Government, 
Showing  the  Superiority  of  the  United  States  Government  Over 
All  Others." 

I  have  found  it  a  very  interesting,  impartial  and  able  exposi- 
tion of  the  different  forms  of  government,  clearly  defining  and 
contrasting  the  structure  and  powers  of  each,  and  triumphantly 
vindicating  the  superiority  of  representative  democracy  over  all 
others.  The  analysis  of  the  powers  of  the  Constitution  and  the 
distinction  between  National  and  State  sovereignty,  are  con- 
cise, lucid  and  well  defined. 

No  one  can  read  your  work  without  interest  and  profit;  and 
at  no  time  since  the  formation  of  the  Government  has  there  been 
such  necessity  for  some  plain  treatise  on  its  nature,  workings, 
and  adaption  to  the  wants  of  the  people  as  now. 

I  can  look  to  a  wide  circulation  of  your  work  among  the  people 
as  potent  for  good,  and  I  could  wish  to  see  it  a  hand-book  in  all 
the  homesteads  of  the  land.  It  will  be  a  new  stimulus  to  loyalty, 
a  reminder  of  the  good  we  are  fighting  for — nerving  the  popular 
mind  and  heart  to  hold  on  with  unyielding  purpose  to  a  Gov- 
ernment founded  by  the  best  men,  in  so  much  wisdom,  and  so 
full  of  benefactions  to  the  people  now,  and  of  promise  for  pos- 
terity. Truly  yours, 

Richard  Yates. 

This  letter  and  the  thesis  were  circulated  by  the  Union  League 
as  a  campaign  document  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  second  candidacy  for 
the  Presidential  office. 

In  1880,  this  thesis,  revised,  was  put  to  similar  use  in  the  cam- 
paign that  resulted  in  the  election  of  James  A.  Garfield.  General 
Garfield  himself  sent  me'  this  acknowledgment : 


Preface  vii 

Mentor,  O.,  July  26,  1880. 

Mr.  B.  A.  Ulrich,  i  10  Dearborn  St.,  Chicago,  111. : 

Dear  Sir — Yours  of  the  24th  inst.  inclosing  proof  slips  of  your 
Treatise  on  Representative  Democracy,  is  received.  I  regret  that 
I  have  not  time  to  read  it  carefully  and  critically,  but  I  have 
glanced  over  its  leadmg  points  enough  to  see  that  it  is  of  import- 
ance. If  I  had  the  time  should  be  glad  to  comply  with  your 
request  and  make  suggestions  on  the  subject.  When  it  is  pub- 
lished please  send  me  a  copy.    I  return  the  slips. 

Very  truly  yours, 

J.  A.  Garfield. 

During  the  Garfield  campaign  Governor  (afterward  Senator) 
Cullom  wrote  as  follows : 

State  of  Illinois,  Executive  Department 

Springfield,  Aug.  3,  1880. 

B.  A.  Ulrich,  Esq.,  Chicago,  111. : 

Dear  Sir:  I  have  read  with  much  interest  your  pamphlet 
entitled  "A  Comparison  Between  the  Forms  of  Government  of 
the  Representative  Democracy  or  Republic  of  the  United  States, 
and  Those  of  Other  Nationalities,"  etc. 

It  is  an  able  contribution  upon  a  subject  now  deservedly  occu- 
pying public  attention.  Its  historical  allusions  are  very  valuable 
and  instructive.  Its  logic  in  favor  of  our  own  form  of  Govern- 
ment is  as  convincing  as  the  conclusion  is  satisfactory.  This  is 
a  Nation  with  a  big  N,  and  all  the  people  ought  to  understand 
their  relations  to  it  as  such. 

I  would  be  glad  to  see  your  work  in  the  hands  of  every  intelli- 
gent voter. 

Very  truly  yours, 

S.  M.  Cullom. 


Constitutional  Government  155 


CHAPTER  I 


COMPARISONS   OF  THE  DIFFERENT   FORMS   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

There  must  be  in  all  governments  a  supreme  and  controlling 
power  which  can  be  enforced,  placed  in  some  particular  person 
or  assemblage  of  persons,  chosen  by  the  people  as  in  a  republic, 
or  hereditary  as  in  a  monarchy,  from  which  central  point  can 
flow  the  commands  to  do  or  not  to  do  certain  things  for  or 
against  the  good  of  all  under  that  government. 

Monarchy,  aristocracy  and  democracy  are  tbe  three 
great  divisions  of  government.  Any  two  of  these,  or  all,  may  be 
limited  and  combined  in  the  formation  of  one  government,  which 
is  called  a  mixed  government,  as  that  of  Great  Britain. 

A  Monarchical  form  of  government  exists  where  the  supreme 
and  controlling  power  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  one  person,  as  in 
Russia;  an  Aristocratic  form,  where  this  power  is  given  to  a 
certain  class  of  people,  generally  for  no  other  reason  than  that 
of  their  birth  and  their  inheritance,  as  in  Athens  under  the 
control  of  the  Four  Hundred ;  and  a  Democratic  form  of  govern- 
ment, where  this  supreme  and  controlling  power  is  given  to  the 
people  who  compose  the  nation  under  that  government,  either 
directly  or  by  representation,  as  in  Switzerland  and  in  the  United 
States. 

Modern  systems  of  government  comprise:  A  confederation 
of  states :  this  is  created  by  a  league  or  compact  between  states 
for  mutual  protection,  as  the  old  Confederation  of  Germany  be- 
fore the  German  Empire  was  established,  and  the  early  confed- 
eration of  Switzerland.  A  Federation  is  a  union  of  states  under 
one  central  government,  as  the  United  States  at  present,  being  a 
compact  between  the  states,  which  by  the  terms  of  the  contract 
surrender  their  general  sovereignty  and  form  a  Federal  Union. 
A  Constitutional  Monarchy  can  be  formed  by  having  a  writ- 
ten constitution  providing  for  a  parliament  or  congress,  and  a 
ministry  accountable  to  the  same,  as  in  Belgium,  or  accountable 
to  the  Monarch,  as  in  Russia;  a  dual  government,  where  two 
nations,  each  having  a  constitution,  with  a  congress  or  parliament, 
have  one  king  who  acts  for  both.  These  forms  of  monarchies 
can  be  elective  or  hereditary.  A  Constitutional  Monarchy  can 
exist  without  a  definite  written  constitution,  as  in  England,  where 
old  charters,  acts  of  parliament  and  statutes  form  precedents, 


156  Constitutional  Government 


but  no  written  constitution  exists.  An  Oligarchy  is  an  aristocracy- 
drawn  into  fewer  hands.  The  government  of  Scotland  became 
an  Oligarchy  when,  in  the  reign  of  James  II.,  the  administration 
of  the  public  purse  and  with  it  the  power  of  the  state,  was  con- 
ferred on  eight  men,  called  on  that  account  Octavians.  This 
form  of  government  has  become  practically  obsolete. 

"The  constitution  of  a  government  is  the  body  or  collection  of 
rules  and  principles  in  accordance  with  which  the  powers  of  that 
government  are  exercised;  and  a  constitutional  government  is 
one  the  powers  of  which  are  exercised  in  accordance  with  rules 
and  principles  which  are  generally  accepted  as  binding  upon  it 
and  usually  follow." 


WRITTEN  AND  UNWRITTEN  CONSTITUTIONS. 

"In  this  proper  and  usual  sense  all  the  governments  of  civil- 
ized peoples  are  constitutional,  whether  they  are  monarchical  or 
republican."  E.  McClain,  §  5,  Constitutional  Law  in  the  United 
States;  T.  W.  Cooley,  Comparative  Merits  of  Written  and  Pre- 
scriptive Constitutions  (Am.  Law  Rev.  xxiii,  311)  ;  S.  G.  Fisher, 
Evolution  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

"The  proposition  that  government  exists  for  the  benefit  of  the 
governed,  and  not  merely  for  the  advantage  of  those  who 
exercise  the  powers  of  government,  is  not  original  with  the 
American  people.  It  had  been  recognized  as  fundamental  by 
many  writers  before  the  Revolution,  and  is  a  necessary  outcome 
of  the  fact  demonstrated  by  human  experience,  that  as  between 
a  single  ruler,  or  a  small  ruling  class,  and  the  mass  of  the  people 
who  are  ruled,  the  great  preponderance  of  power  and  resource 
is  with  the  latter.  This  consideration  has  made  it  essential  that 
all  rulers,  or  governing  classes,  shall  at  least  pretend  to  administer 
government  for  the  benefit  of  the  governed."     (E.  McClain.) 

Considering  government  as  essential  to  the  control  of  men  in 
their  social  state,  we  will  examine  these  different  forms  and  see 
v/hich  is  the  most  conducive  to  the  promotion  of  order,  prosperity 
and  liberty  in  the  various  stages  of  civilization. 


Constitutional  Government  157 


CHAPTER  II 


Representative  Democracy 

Montesquieu,  in  "  the  Spirit  of  Laws,"  thus  defines  democ- 
racy :  "When  the  body  of  the  people  in  a  republic  are  possessed 
of  the  supreme  power,  this  is  called  a  democracy"  And  he  con- 
tinues: "When  the  supreme  power  is  lodged  in  the  hands  of  a 
part  of  the  people  it  is  then  an  aristocracy."  Noah  Webster  gives 
the  following  definitions  :  Democracy ;  "Government  by  the  peo- 
ple," "a  form  of  government  in  which  the  supreme  power  is 
lodged  in  the  hands  of  the  people  collectively."  Democrat;  "one 
who  adheres  to  a  government  by  the  people,  or  favors  the  exten- 
sion of  the  right  of  suffrage  to  all  classes  of  men"  Our  repub- 
lic, a  representative  democracy,  is  to-day  the  greatest  and  most 
perfect  that  ever  existed.  In  comparison,  it  throws  Rome,  with 
all  her  grandeur  in  the  height  of  her  ancient  glory,  even  when 
boasting  of  her  democracy  and  liberty,  as  well  as  the  republics  of 
Athens,  Greece  and  Florence,  into  the  shade  of  inherent  slavery 
and  despotism,  and  has  left  far  in  the  back  ground  all  other  peo- 
ples who  have  striven  against  the  power  of  arbitrary  rule  to  con- 
struct an  independent  democracy.  Our  democratic  system  of 
government  attracts  the  attention  of  the  civilized  world;  the 
word  itself  has  a  sweet  and  welcome  sound  to  the  ear  of  the  op- 
pressed of  all  foreign  arbitrary  governments.  With  it  are  con- 
nected all  their  ideas  of  liberty,  equality,  and  the  natural  rights 
of  man.  In  their  minds  it  is  the  synonym  of  all  that  is  adverse 
to  monarchy,  and  to  every  form  of  arbitrary  and  tyrannical  rule. 
Large  representations  from  nearly  all  climes  and  nations,  hear- 
ing the  glad  tidings  of  the  founding  of  a  new  republic  in  the 
Western  world,  flocked  to  our  vast  and  productive  territorities, 
here  to  find  freedom  and  personal  security  under  our  democratic 
form  of  government.  And  here,  also,  were  forcibly  brought  the 
children  of  the  burning  regions  of  Africa,  who,  in  violation  of 
the  fundamental  principles  of  democracy,  were  fettered  in  the 
most  abject  slavery  which  was  the  first  step — and  one  taken  even 
in  its  infancy — towards  transforming  our  government  into  a 
rigorous  aristocracy. 

After  a  fratricidal  and  bloody  war  for  the  supremacy  of 
our  united  republic,  and  of  the  principles  of  equal  rights  and 


158  Constitutional  Government 


general  and  untrammelled  freedom — the  inseparable  adjuncts  of 
a  pure  democracy — the  millions  of  enslaved  men  and  women  of 
the  South  were  liberated,  and  the  aristocratic  power  which  had 
nourished  slavery  was  broken.  Now  that  it  is  effected,  every 
purely  democratic  citizen  hails  the  triumph  as  the  culmination  of 
all  that  is  truly  benign,  liberal  and  protective  to  personal  free- 
dom and  security  in  our  enlightened  government.  The  people 
should  remember  the  dangers  of  limiting  the  powers  and  privi- 
leges of  certain  classes  on  account  of  birth,  or  in  other  words  of 
color, — of  the  overbearing  aristocracy,  or  nobility  of  Europe, — 
how  those  who  are  born  with  exclusive  powers  crave  an  enlarge- 
ment of  those  powers  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  rights  of  others, — 
and  that  the  security  and  perpetuity  of  the  liberties  of  each  man 
and  his  decendants  in  the  nation,  depend  upon  the  universal  and 
unequivocal  freedom  and  political  equality  of  every  man  and  his 
descendants  in  the  nation. 


LIBERTY. 

The  world  has  been  twice  electrified  by  the  wars  successfully 
fought  upon  the  western  continent  in  support  of  liberty.  The 
revolutionary  war  not  only  freed  the  North  American  colonies 
and  secured  to  them  a  republic,  but  France,  Great  Britain  and 
the  continental  states  felt  the  mighty  wave  of  popular  inde- 
pendence impelled  from  the  western  shores  of  the  new  world. 
Through  the  victory  of  the  union  in  the  civil  war  not  alone  the 
enslaved  negro,  but  also  the  down-trodden  of  Poland,  the  op- 
pressed of  Italy,  the  thwarted  of  Hungary,  the  serfs  of  Russia, 
the  once  outraged  people  of  Mexico  and  those  of  other  nations, 
deprived  of  freedom  by  a  tyrannical  and  arbitrary  power,  felt 
the  electric  shock  and  the  magnetic  influence  of  the  powerful 
force  of  personal  liberty  which  for  the  second  time  shook  the 
continent  of  America. 

These  two  wars,  fought  under  the  banner  and  in  the  name  of 
Liberty,  caused  ancient  thrones  and  the  knees  of  monarchs  to 
tremble ;  crowns  seemed  to  become  possessed  with  wings,  threat- 
ening to  fly  away  from  those  who  nervously  grasped  them;  em- 
pires seemed  to  rest  upon  trembling  earthquakes  and  volcanoes 
appeared  to  be  rumbling  beneath  mighty  kingdoms,  ready  at  any 
moment  to  burst  forth  and  destroy  them,  thus  changing  the  en- 
tire map  of  the  old  world. 

Although  these  modern  wars  have  ended,  the  result  being  de- 
cided in  favor  of  the  principle  of  liberty,  the  influences  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  destinies  of  nations  has  yet  to  bear  fruit.  France 


Constitutional  Government  159 


threw  off  the  rule  of  the  Bourbons  and  the  power  of  the  Napo- 
leons, while  Prussia  broke  the  dominant  sway  of  Austria  and 
set  at  defiance  the  "modern"  emperor  decked  in  the  garb  pre- 
pared by  his  teacher,  Machiavelli,  and  he,  Napoleon  III.,  was 
forced  to  acknowledge  the  superior  claims  of  national  as  well 
as  individual  liberty.  Mexico  boiled  to  her  center  with  righteous 
indignation  and  cast  out  the  pampered  children  of  European 
despots  and  shot  Maximilian  as  a  common  felon. 

The  way  is  now  open  for  the  progress  and  universal  sway  of 
liberty  in  the  new  world.  When  Cuba  cried  for  help  against  the 
cruelty  of  Spanish  mediaeval  despotism,  as  brutal  in  its  nature 
as  Nero's  reign  over  Rome's  captive  slaves,  the  creature  of  lib- 
erty, the  United  States  of  America,  sprang  to  her  rescue.  The 
army  and  navy  of  a  republic  arose  in  their  majesty  to  crush  the 
hydra-headed  monster  of  anti-Christian  Neroism.  Today  Russia, 
Germany,  Italy,  Spain,  Austria  and  Turkey  maintain  great  ar- 
mies and  navies  to  keep  in  subjection  their  provinces  and  their 
classes.  Were  these  military  forces  disbanded  the  mass  of  people 
now  held  in  subjugation  would  not  tolerate  a  dominating  class 
who  heretofore  ruled  and  now  rule  them  with  a  rod  of  iron. 
These  ruling  forces  think  they  have  the  right,  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, to  control  the  world,  and  even  all  America  is  considered 
subject  to  their  arbitrary  dictatorial  will.  It  was  our  duty,  as 
freemen  and  representatives  of  a  free  government,  to  drive  out 
of  Cuba  the  cruel  Spaniards,  and  destroy  them  as  Maximilian 
was  overthrown  and  annihilated  in  Mexico.  A  republic  was  se- 
cured for  Cuba  as  Mexico  secured  a  republic.  European  powers 
should  understand  that  we  are  not  only  able  to  maintain  our  re- 
public, but  also  to  protect  and  establish  other  republics  on  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  victory  of  the  American  navy  at  Ma- 
nila demonstrates  the  fact  that  the  slave  armies  and  navies  of  des- 
potism are  no  match  for  armies  and  navies  comprised  of  inde- 
pendent citizens  of  a  republic. 

There  is  no  cause  for  advocating  socialism  or  anarchism  here. 
America,  today,  is  the  grandest,  most  enlightened  and  freest  na- 
tion that  has  existed  in  the  world.  Its  sons  and  daughters  have 
greater  liberty  and  privileges  than  those  of  the  Free  Romans  at 
any  time,  and  they  are  equal  to  the  independent  princes  of  today, 
possessing  not  only  the  most  diversified,  rich  and  magnificent 
territory  on  the  face  of  the  whole  earth,  but  also  a  Government 
the  most  liberal  and  humane  of  any  yet  constituted  for  man. 
Created  through  the  wisdom  of  great  statesmen,  who  were  not 
willing  to  endure  the  oppression  of  the  old  and  tyrannical  Gov- 
ernments of  Europe,  yet  who  believed  in  law  and  order,  and 
expected  that  the  laws  of  the  republic  would  be  obeyed  and  en- 
forced as  promptly  as  the  laws  of  an  empire.     It  is  now  to  the 


160    '  Constitutional  Government 


interest  of  all  classes,  whether  employers  or  employes,  to  see  that 
our  laws  are  enforced.  A  comparison  of  this  Government  with 
the  various  other  forms  of  Government,  monarchial,  aristocrat- 
ical  or  mixed,  will  demonstrate  its  superiority  and  should  con- 
vince every  citizen  that  anarchism,  communism,  socialism  or  other 
theories  advanced  by  those  who  think  that  they  could  do  better 
are  not  needed  if  honest  men  are  elected  to  office,  our  present 
form  of  government  properly  administered  and  our  laws  exe- 
cuted. Old  monarchies,  jealous  of  our  republic  could  not  destroy 
it  easier  than  to  secretly  aid  the  plans  and  purposes  of  commu- 
nists and  anarchists  who  ignore  our  laws  and  threaten  the  lives 
of  those  who  represent  the  Government.  Should  such  men  ever 
succeed  to  break  up  the  republic,  which  I  believe  impossible, 
especially  since  the  verdict  rendered  in  the  great  trial  of  anarchy 
in  Chicago,  a  despotism  like  that  of  Russia  would  at  once  be 
established,  of  necessity,  to  throttle  anarchism  by  military  rule. 
To  avoid  this  threatened  danger  those  who  wish  to  uphold  free- 
dom, oppose  despotism,  anarchy,  communism  or  socialism,  should 
elect  to  office  at  all  times  those  who  will  honestly  represent  the 
principles  of  our  government  and  faithfully  and  fearlessly  enact 
the  laws. 

Men  should  not  be  elected  who  do  not  comprehend  the  pro- 
found theory  of  Republicanism,  but  who  are  the  superficial  lead- 
ers of  political  cliques. 

Every  good  citizen  in  the  United  States  of  America  should 
consider  himself  an  integrant  part  of  the  Government,  ready  to 
defend  and  sustain  the  entire  fabric,  if  attacked,  in  an  intelligent 
and  conservative  manner. 

the  so-called  divine  right  of  kings. 

To  prove  the  utter  fallacy  of  such  a  claim,  compare  the  presi- 
dents chosen  by  universal  suffrage  in  the  United  States,  from 
Washington  to  Wilson,  with  the  several  Kings,  Emperors,  Czars 
of  Europe  who  have  reigned  during  the  same  time. 

We  all  know  the  position  taken  by  George  III.  in  reference  to 
taxing  the  American  colonies  in  order  to  raise  money  to  meet  the 
expenses  of  the  previous  wars  of  England.  He  did  this  in  viola- 
tion of  the  English  Constitution,  which  Charles  I.  had  also  vio- 
lated in  the  same  way.  It  was  contrary  to  the  principles  of  par- 
liamentary government  in  England  for  the  King  to  attempt  to 
raise  money  by  taxation  on  his  own  account,  as  this  was  the  pre- 
rogative of  the  House  of  Commons.  Besides  he  was  taxing  sub- 
jects of  Great  Britain  who  were  not  represented  in  parliament. 
He  was  not  sustained  in  this  action  even  by  many  of  the  leading 
statesmen  of  England. 


Constitutional  Government  161 


George  III.  was  continually  in  difficulty  with  the  ministry  and 
he  gave  little  evidence  of  ability  in  administrative  affairs.  Fi- 
nally in  1811  he  became  hopelessly  insane  and  remained  so  for 
nine  years. 

During  this  period  we  had  as  presidents,  George  Washington 
and  John  Adams.  These  men,  all  will  admit,  were  far  superior 
in  administrative  abilitv  and  in  every  way  to  George  III. 

Next  we  come  to  George  IV.  He  proved  to  be  a  profligate 
of  the  worst  kind,  and  was  noted  for  his  disgusting  social  re- 
lations and  complications.  The  people  suffered  from  his  incapac- 
ity and  profligate  reign  from  181 1  till  1830.  During  this  time 
we  had  Madison,  Monroe  and  Jackson.  There  is  no  comparison 
between  these  able  presidents  and  the  licentious  George  IV. 
Queen  Victoria  reigned  between  1837  an^  1901,  successfully  and 
wisely  but  parliament  governed.  She  was  succeeded  by  Edward 
VII.  and  his  son  George  V.  who  were  each  highly  accomplished 
and  amicable  gentlemen  and  it  may  be  truthfully  said  that  they 
also  reigned  wisely  and  successfully  but  that  parliament  and 
the  Ministry  in  the  meantime  governed  the  great  empire  of  great 
Britain. 

During  these  years  of  wise  governmental  administration  in  the 
United  States,  Prussia  was  under  the  direction  of  Frederick 
William  II.  from  1757  to  1797.  He  managed  to  involve  the  na- 
tion in  debt  and  antagonized  his  subjects  by  his  censorship  of  the 
press  and  his  affairs  with  the  woman — Wilhelmina  Encke,  Frells, 
Von  Voss  and  others.  His  mind  was  occupied  with  mystical 
occult  demonstrations  and  he  cannot  be  compared  with  our  presi- 
dents as  to  ability  and  manly  character. 

Frederick  William  III.,  who  succeeded  him,  was  defeated  by 
Napoleon  and  lost  most  of  his  provinces.  He  was  a  man  of  in- 
ferior capacity  and  vacillating  temperament,  but  nevertheless  an 
autocratic  ruler.  The  best  achievements  of  his  reign  were  due 
to  the  ability  and  good  judgment  of  his  wife,  the  beloved  Queen 
Louisa.  As  a  ruler  and  statesman  he  was  not  the  equal  of  the 
presidents  holding  office  during  his  reign. 

Frederick  William  IV.  was  inconsistent  in  his  dealings  with  his 
people.  He  was  arbitrary  and  autocratic  and  finally  became  in- 
sane. William  I.  who  succeeded  him  was  the  first  Hohenzollern 
since  Frederick  the  Great  who  displayed  marked  ability  as  a 
ruling  sovereign.  He  was  on  a  plane  of  equality  with  the  major- 
ity oi  the  presidents  who  have  administered  the  affairs  of  the 
United  States  government.  He  was  first  regent  and  in  1861  be- 
came King.  He  was  co-temporary  with  Abraham  Lincoln  and 
was  successful  in  the  Franco-Prussian  war,  with  the  assistance 
of  Bismarck,  in  establishing  the  German  Empire. 


162  Constitutional  Government 


William  II.  King  of  Prussia  and  President  of  the  German 
Empire  with  the  title  of  German  Emperor,  proved  to  be  a  very 
efficient  and  popular  ruler  up  to  the  commencement  of  the  war 
precipitated  August  1914.  Until  the  outcome  and  causes  of  the 
war  are  thoroughly  understood  and  the  sequel  historically  re- 
corded, it  is  impossible  to  correctly  estimate  his  place  among 
Imperial  rulers. 


Constitutional  Government  163 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  IMPERIAL  TRUST. 


Today  four  European  sovereigns,  Francis  Joseph,  Emperor  of 
Austria-Hungary,  Emperor  William  II.  of  Germany,  Czar  Nich- 
olas II.  of  Russia,  George  V.,  King  of  England  and  Emperor  of 
India,  rule  directly  and  indirectly  over  650,000,000  subjects. 
Their  jurisdiction  extends  over  two-thirds  of  the  area  of  the 
globe,  including  Austria-Hungary,  Russia,  Siberia,  part  of  China, 
India,  Great  Britain,  including  Canada,  Australia,  West  Indies, 
Egypt,  British  possessions  in  Africa,  and  then  the  German  Em- 
pire with  all  its  states  and  possessions.  These  three  monarchs 
can  act,  if  they  desire  to  do  so,  as  a  unit  on  any  proposition 
which  affects  them  severally  or  jointly,  the  same  as  the  heads  or 
presidents  of  three  large  and  comprehensive  corporations  with  af- 
filiated companies.  Their  armies  and  navies  can  be  called  to- 
gether instantaneously,  and  unite  in  carrying  out  some  scheme 
which  all  the  rulers  desire,  or  throw  the  entire  world  into  confu- 
sion if  they  have  a  family  quarrel  as  the  great  conflict  now  going 
on  proves. 

Co-operation  with  the  legislative  branches  of  the  different 
nations  of  course  must  be  forced  or  obtained  in  some  way.  These 
rulers  are  all  connected  by  family  ties  of  intermarriage.  The 
great  standing  armies  under  their  control  are  maintained  in  a 
greater  degree  than  is  generally  understood  for  the  purpose  of 
supporting  and  defending  these  sovereigns  individually  and  col- 
lectively against  the  interference  of  their  own  subjects  as  well  as 
to  protect  the  different  countries  against  each  other  and  antago- 
nistic nations.  It  has  been  in  the  past  almost  impossible  for  the 
people  under  the  control  of  the  rulers  forming  this  imperial  trust 
to  contend  against  them  successfully  or  accomplish  anything  of  a 
radical  nature  in  antagonism  to  this  immense  aggregation  of  mate- 
rial wealth  and  military  and  naval  power.  Nevertheless  since 
1789  it  is  stated  that  all  the  civilized  people  of  the  western 
world  wrested  constitutions  from  these  and  other  rulers  and  now 
in  a  greater  measure  than  ever  before  control  their  political  des- 
tinies with  such  machinery  as  written  constitutions,  parliaments, 
congresses,  and  other  legislative  bodies,  sustained  by  manhood 
suffrage  and  strengthened  by  compulsory  universal  education. 


164  Constitutional  Government 


Through  the  principle  of  democracy  and  nationalities  there  was 
created  a  new  Germany,  a  new  Italy,  a  new  French  republic,  a 
new  Swiss  republic,  a  democratic  England,  a  constitutional  fed- 
erated Austria-Hungary,  and  a  group  of  free  Slav  states  in  the 
Balkan  peninsula.  All  these  and  the  other  small  states  of  Europe 
in  a  good  measure  remodeled  their  governments  upon  English 
and  American  forms.  Prussia  and  Russia  remained  the  only 
two  powers  in  Europe  not  reconstructed  and  the  latter  of  these 
has  been  nearly  thrust  back  into  the  ages."  (Modern  History, 
Willis  Mason  West.) 

Since  the  above  was  published,  China  has  overthrown  her 
imperial  government  and  established  a  republic,  and  Portugal  has 
also  retired  the  Braganza  dynasty,  and  obtained  a  written  repre- 
sentative constitution  for  a  republican  form  of  government. 

The  Romanoff  dynasty,  the  Hohenzollerns,  the  Hapsburgs,  the 
Bourbons,  the  Orleanists,  the  Bonapartes,  the  English  Stuarts, 
the  Manchu  dynasty  of  China,  and  the  rulers  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire,  who  have  at  different  times  individually  and  collect- 
ively assumed  to  dictate  to  the  world  what  they  should  or 
should  not  do,  and  subjected  large  portions  of  its  inhabitants  to 
their  imperious  wills,  can  no  longer  hold  in  this  twentieth  century 
undisputed  or  supreme  power.  The  Bourbons,  the  Orleanists, 
the  Bonapartes  and  the  Manchu  dynasty  are  now  overthrown. 

There  are  other  equally  as  great  forces  in  the  Western  Hemi- 
sphere and  in  other  portions  of  the  world  to  contest  the  suprem- 
acy of  the  remaining  sovereigns.  The  United  States  itself  is 
greater  in  real  wealth  and,  given  time,  can  muster  as  much  aggres- 
sive power  as  any  one  of  the  great  empires  mentioned.  There  are 
individual  families  in  America  now  who  own  and  control  as 
much  wealth  in  their  own  right  as  any  European  king,  emperor, 
or  czar.  There  are  corporations  controlling  more  material  re- 
sources than  any  two  of  these  old  imperial  families.  There  are 
also  individual  families  in  these  kingly  ruled  countries  who  con- 
trol as  much  wealth  as  many  of  the  rulers  assuming  control  over 
them.  The  great  mass  of  the  citizens  of  these  monarchies  are 
also  more  advanced  and  better  qualified  to  rule  than  ever  before. 

With  all  their  wealth,  standing  armies  and  navies,  fortifica- 
tions and  defensive  resources,  these  imperial  and  kingly  families 
with  their  assumed  "divine  rights,"  cannot  protect  themselves 
against  insanity  and  degeneracy.  Modern  history  shows  that  they 
are  losing  their  ability  to  govern  and  consequently  their  power  is 
passing  away  from  them  into  other  hands.  The  twentieth  century 
will  mark,  with  its  gigantic  war,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  the  permanent 
retirement  of  all  these  imperial,  ducal,  and  highly  titled  families 
who  have  ruled,  misgoverned  and  destroyed  mankind  in  the  past. 
They  should  be  superseded  by  written  constitutions  containing 


Constitutional  Government  165 


the  supreme  law  of  the  land,  granting  universal  suffrage  when 
expedient  and  equal  rights  and  protections  to  all  citizens.  These 
should  take  the  place  of  imperial  thrones,  crowns  and  the  so- 
called  divinely  appointed  sovereigns,  who  use  their  power  to 
dominate  and  absorb  the  wealth  of  their  subjects. 

Nearly  every  nation  of  Europe  is  represented  in  the  United 
States  of  America  by  a  large  body  of  their  former  subjects, 
amounting  in  some  cases  to  hundreds  of  thousands,  who  are 
now  loyal  citizens  of  the  republic,  living  harmoniously  under  a 
common  constitution.  This  demonstrates  the  possibility  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  different  states  of  Europe  uniting  and  living 
satisfactorily  under  one  constitutional  government  like  that  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  and  comprising  the  United  States  of 
Europe.  By  a  general  election,  the  people  of  these  several  states 
or  nations  could  jointly  elect  their  president  and  their  representa- 
tives to  a  national  congress  or  parliament  and  so  construct  an  Eu- 
ropean republic  with  a  written  constitution. 

The  royal  families  of  the  different  states  or  nations  are  now 
the  main  obstacle  to  a  united  Europe  under  a  constitutional  gov- 
ernment. The  kings,  princes,  lords,  and  barons,  and  other  titled 
personages  would  then  become  private  citizens  living  on  their 
estates  the  same  as  large  property  owners  in  America.  They 
could  fill  prominent  positions  as  well  as  other  citizens,  if  quali- 
fied and  elected  by  the  people,  and  they  would  probably  enjoy 
life  more  than  they  do  now  and  have  less  responsibility.  The 
great  standing  armies  could  be  disbanded  and  greater  attention 
given  to  commerce,  art,  and  literature.  A  citizen  of  one  state 
would  then  be  a  citizen  of  the  other  state  and  have  a  common  in- 
terest in  all  Europe.  This  would  do  away  with  the  continual 
war  between  nations  for  more  territory. 

Kings  under  certain  conditions  may  be  tolerated,  but  the  nation 
should  have  a  free  choice  and  elect  a  man  for  a  limited  term  of 
years  who  is  capable  to  fill  the  position. 


PROPOSED    EUROPEAN    PEACE    FEDERATION    GAINED    PRACTICAL. 

A  recent  press  dispatch  says:  Sir  Max  Waechter's  project 
of  a  federation  of  the  states  of  Europe  was  the  subject  of  an 
interesting  lecture  delivered  at  The  Hague  before  the  Vrede  door 
Recht  (Peace  through  Justice  Society)  by  Mr.  Knobel,  a  member 
of  the  Second  Chamber,  and  a  former  envoy  to  South  Africa, 
Persia  and  other  countries. 

The  lecturer  pointed  out  that  there  was  an  important  differ- 
ence between  the  old  and  new  schools  in  the  peace  movement. 
The  old  method,  he  said,  was  to  hold  up  various  ideals  and  to  set 


166  Constitutional  Government 


up  a  very  exalted  standard,  without  taking  into  consideration 
whether  it  could  actually  be  realized,  and  this  did  not  lead  to  any 
great   results. 

A  later  generation  had  arisen,  however,  which  was  not  con- 
tent merely  with  contemplation,  but  first  of  all  strove  after  defi- 
nite results.  The  work  done  by  this  new  movement,  the  speaker 
said,  was  slowly  but  surely  advancing.  The  pacifists  of  the  new 
age  were  no  longer  dreamers ;  they  put  proposals  before  the  diplo- 
matists which  the  latter  could  realize  if  they  would. 

He  himself  had  for  many  years  worked  at  this  project  of 
Sir  Max  Waechter  for  a  league  of  the  European  states  and  he 
fully  believed  in  it.  The  annual  cost  of  armaments  in  Europe, 
according  to  Sir  Max,  was  4,320,000,000  florins,  with  which  sum 
a  railway  might  be  built  around  the  entire  world.  Even  so  colos- 
sal an  undertaking  as  the  Panama  canal  had  not  cost  more  than 
960,000,000  florins. 

The  lecturer  went  on  to  point  out  the  enormous  loss  entailed 
to  labor  by  the  standing  armies  which  meant  that  5,000,000  use- 
ful citizens  and  100,000  horses  were  kept  from  productive  work. 
This  in  figures  meant  that  a  further  waste  of  about  6,000,000,000 
florins,  and  altogether  these,  with  other  pecuniary  losses  in- 
volved a  sum  amounting  annually  to  about  12,000,000,000  florins. 

Was  not  this  stupidity,  in  other  words,  a  new  form  of  slavery, 
and  was  not  the  whole  expenditure  nothing  more  than  an  in- 
surance premium  against  war?  Sir  Max  Waechter's  idea  is  to 
bring  about  a  federation  of  the  states  of  Europe  on  an  economic 
basis,  starting  with  Great  Britain  and  Germany,  whose  examples 
other  countries  might  be  expected  to  follow.  These  chances 
were  not,  the  speaker  pointed  out,  so  remote  as  people  might 
think.  At  the  same  time  a  great  deal  more  was  to  be  expected 
from  public  opinion  than  from  the  heads  of  the  various  states. 


MONARCHIAL   RULE)   A   FAILURE). 

As  long  as  monarchical  administrations  exist,  controlled  by  a 
personal  ruler  as  in  Europe,  there  will  be  discontent,  revolution 
and  periodical  devastating  wars.  The  courts  of  Kings,  Emperors, 
and  Czars  are  centers  of  diplomatic  intrigue,  trickery  and  un- 
christian and  diabolical  plots.  The  supreme  ruler  is  supported 
by  the  war  lords  and  the  army  and  navy.  Depending  on  the 
reigning  house  is  the  bureaucracy  which  is  powerful  and  tyran- 
nical. The  human  mind  is  continually  at  work  under  such  condi- 
tions to  overpower,  deceive  and  destroy  all  opposition  at  home 
or  in  other  nations.  Armies  are  trained  and  armaments  manu- 
factured and  collected  in  preparation  for  immediate  attack  if  de- 


Constitutional  Government  167 


cided  on  to  force  the  secret  decision  in  the  Imperial  state  cham- 
ber. 

Treaties  are  violated  with  impunity  and  treated  by  great  dip- 
lomats and  Chancellors,  as  worthless  "scraps  of  paper".  New 
treaties  are  entered  into  secretly  and  carried  out  to  accomplish 
some  mysterious  plot  of  which  the  people  know  nothing.  Mil- 
lions of  human  beings  are  killed  in  cold  blood  or  wounded  and 
maimed  for  life  at  the  command  of  heartless  men  who  keep 
safely  in  the  background  through  cowardice. 

Whoever  will  take  the  trouble  and  time  to  study  European  his- 
tory for  the  past  two  thousand  years  will  discover  the  truth  of 
these  statements.  It  will  be  the  same  for  a  thousand  years  to 
come  unless  this  system  of  government  is  changed  and  hereditary 
rulers  dispensed  with  entirely  and  forever. 

Nations  so  governed  are  not  only  disloyal  to  one  another  when 
it  is  to  their  interest,  but  are  tyrannical,  unjust  and  cruel  to  those 
they  govern  by  rigid  military  force.  Kings  unlike  presidents  are 
not  of  and  for  the  people,  but  look  down  upon  and  treat  with 
servile  rule,  the  mass  of  the  people.  They  compel  them  to  support 
them  in  their  extravagance  and  give  their  lives  to  fight  for  them, 
but  refuse  to  give  them  real  liberty  and  adequate  compensation. 

They  divide  society  into  two  classes  the  ruler  and  the  ruled  and 
force  this  distinction  through  succeeding  generations. 

The  history  of  the  past  ten  centuries  of  the  European  states 
has  demonstrated  the  utter  failure  of  monarchical  governments 
to  preserve  peace  for  any  length  of  time  between  themselves  and 
to  protect  the  great  mass  of  people  from  injustice  and  tyranny. 
There  has  been  a  continual  and  bloody  contest  for  supremacy 
and  territorial  aggrandizement  by  the  different  royal  families 
and  this  will  continue  for  ten  centuries  more  and  until  these 
royal  and  inhuman  families  are  eliminated  from  their  assumed 
divine  right  of  overlordship  over  the  rest  of  the  human  race. 


THE   PASSING   AWAY   OP   ROYAI/TY. 

The  Bourbons,  the  Orleanists,  the  Bonapartes,  the  Manchu 
dynasty,  the  Braganza  dynasty,  have  been  driven  from  the  sphere 
of  royal  activity  within  the  last  ioo  years  and  republics  estab- 
lished to  replace  them. 

The  Hohenzollers  and  the  Hapsburgs  are  fighting  their  last 
battles  to  retain  their  foothold  in  Europe,  and  are  liable,  like  the 
Bourbons,  to  be  destroyed  by  the  chances  of  war.  They  have 
led  their  armies  to  destruction,  leaving  on  the  battlefields  and 
among  the  wounded  2,000,000  of  their  great  armies,  and  left 
their  government  in  debt   for  many  billions  of  money.     They 


168  Constitutional  Government 


cannot  rebuild  these  armies  for  many  decades  and  place  them 
on  the  footing  they  had  before  this  unprecedented  war.  Sooner 
or  later  they  will  be  called  to  account  by  their  own  burdened 
and  stricken  people. 

The  Ottoman  Empire  has  been  almost  completely  driven  out 
of  Europe  and  weakened  materially  in  many  ways. 

The  world  has  been  dictated  to,  and  at  times  tyrannized  over, 
by  these  and  other  royal  families  for  many  centuries. 

Now  the  time  has  come  when  the  world,  which  has  advanced 
in  civilization  and  education,  will  call  a  halt  and  the  twentieth 
century  will  witness  the  overthrow  and  disappearance  of  these 
dynasties. 


Constitutional  Government  169 


CHAPTER  IV. 


The  New  Representative  Democracy. 

Out  of  the  fiery  furnace  of  the  despotic,  autocratic  and  aristo- 
cratic governments  of  the  old  world  came  forth,  after  a  fierce 
struggle,  the  Democratic  Republic  of  the  new. 

After  Charles  the  First  was  beheaded,  Cromwell  finally  agreed 
to  give  the  people  of  Virginia  all  the  rights  and  liberties  of  free- 
born  Englishmen ;  they  should  entrust  their  business  to  their  own 
General  Assembly  and  should  have  as  free  trade  as  the  people 
of  England. 

During  the  Commonwealth  under  Cromwell,  the  Colony  took 
advantage  of  the  times  to  establish  free  institutions  in  her  midst. 
She  claimed,  and  used,  the  right  to  choose  and  to  remove  her 
governors  and  to  concentrate  power  in  the  House  of  Burgesses. 
She  was  the  first  state  in  the  world  to  establish  universal  suf- 
frage, a  privilege  which  she  conferred  on  every  one  of  her  freed 
servants.  She  inaugurated  free  trade  and  made  a  great  advance 
toward  religious  freedom. 

The  early  settlers  of  New  England  were  greatly  favored  dur- 
ing the  Commonwealth  under  Cromwell,  and  their  independence 
taught  them  the  blessings  of  self-government,  which  they  were 
not  willing  to  surrender  to  the  Crown  when  Charles  II.  came 
to  the  throne. 

Cromwell,  like  Lincoln,  was  a  man  of  the  people,  and  possessed 
liberal,  anti-monarchical  views  of  government.  He  favored  the 
independence  of  the  American  Colonies,  and  many  of  his  follow- 
ers emigrated  to  the  United  States,  both  before  and  after  his 
death. 

To  show  the  beginning  of  our  Constitution,  the  following  ex- 
tracts are  given  from  a  speech  delivered  by  Joseph  Culbertson 
Clayton  before  the  New  York  Order  of  the  Founders  and  Pa- 
triots of  America,  at  the  Hotel  Manhattan,  December  14,  1910: 

"In  1643  tne  f°ur  colonies,  then  known  as  Connecticut  and 
New  Haven,  Massachusetts  Bay  and  Plymouth,  New  Hamp- 
shire and  Maine,  formed  a  Union  styled  'The  United  Colonies 
of  New  England/  There  were  two  commissioners  from  each 
colony  and  six  votes  were  needed  for  valid  action.    Their  actions 


170  Constitutional  Government 


were  restricted  to  affairs  that  were  proper  concomitants  or  con- 
sequents of  a  confederation. 

"In  Indian  affairs,  war  and  peace,  chiefly:  General  expenses 
to  be  assessed  according  to  the  population;  local  affairs  to  be 
reserved  to  control  of  each  colony.  Provisions  were  also  made 
for  extradition  of  criminals  and  fugitive  slaves.  It  exercised 
treaty  powers  with  the  French  and  Indians ;  declared  and  waged 
war  and  decided  territorial  disputes  between  colonies.  Nominally 
in  force  for  fifty  years,  its  effective  life  was  only  about  twenty 
years. 

"Then,  as  now,  the  Union  had  to  exercise  inherent  powers  for 
the  'general  welfare,'  but  each  colony  was  paramount  in  its  own 
strictly  local  affairs. 

"In  1697  Penn  proposed  an  annual  congress  of  two  delegates 
from  each  colony  to  provide  for  the  general  welfare  and  to  reg- 
ulate congress. 

"In  1754  Franklin's  Albany  plan  for  a  Union  of  the  colonies 
was  proposed. 

"In  1765,  through  the  efforts  of  James  Otis,  delegates  from 
nine  colonies  met  in  New  York  to  consider  their  general  inter- 
ests and  resist  improper  taxations  by  forming  a  union  of  col- 
onies. 

"In  1774  the  first  Continental  Congress  of  the  delegates  of 
twelve  colonies  assembled. 

"In  1776  Thomas  Payne,  with  matchless  vigor,  demanded  a 
conference  of  all  the  Colonies,  to  form  a  continental  charter,  and 
to  frame  the  noblest  and  purest  Constitution  on  the  face  of  the 
earth. 

"On  July  4th,  1776,  the  Colonial  Congress  of  the  whole  thir- 
teen colonies  gave  to  mankind  the  noblest  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence. 

"This  was  the  act  of  the  collective  colonies,  by  their  delegates, 
and  was  the  act  of  'one  people,'  as  a  whole,  and  not  of  thirteen 
individual  colonies;  it  was  the  joint  act  of  the  entire  people  as 
one  great  body  of  heirs  of  English  liberty. 

"That  immortal  act  converted  the  crown  colonies  into  inde- 
pendent states,  under  congressional  government  until  the  Articles 
of  Confederation  were  ratified  in  1778-1781." 

The  American  colonies  boldly  declared  that  all  men  are  cre- 
ated equal ;  that  all  have  a  natural  right  to  liberty  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness ;  that  human  governments  are  instituted  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  securing  the  welfare  of  the  people;  that  the  govern- 
ment of  George  III.  had  become  destructive  of  liberty ;  thnt  an 
appeal  to  the  sword  is  preferable  to  slavery,  and  that  therefore 
the  united  colonies  of  America  are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free 
and  independent  States. 


Constitutional  Government  171 


These:  men  proved  themselves  the  bold  apostles  and  mar- 
tyrs of  a  new  gospel  that  proclaimed  human  liberty,  and  brought 
forth  a  new  dispensation  establishing  it  upon  the  divine  right  of 
individual  independence  that  was  to  take  the  place,  in  time,  of  the 
old  dispensation  of  the  divine  right  of  kings.  To  gain  and  per- 
petuate the  blessings  of  this  new  gospel,  thousands  of  noble  lives 
have  been  sacrificed  upon  the  altar  of  liberty.  Rich  blood,  warm 
with  sympathy  and  devotion  to  the  cause  of  human  freedom, 
has  been  profusely  shed,  that  future  generations  might  live  and 
rejoice  in  the  light  of  a  national  constitution  securing  to  each  citi- 
zen life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness. 

The  Declaration  op  Independence  was  made  by  men  who 
knew  too  well  the  terrors  and  injustice  of  the  old  despotic  gov- 
ernments of  Europe,  hoary  with  vice  and  corruption.  George 
Washington,  John  Adams,  Roger  Sherman,  Robert  Livingston, 
Benjamin  Franklin,  John  Jay,  Thomas  Jefferson,  James  Madison, 
Richard  Henry  Lee,  John  Hancock  and  other  leaders  of  the  Rev- 
olution understood  the  inferiority,  and  utter  unfitness  for  an 
enlightened  people,  of  a  monarchical  or  aristocratical  form  of 
government.  They,  with  a  divine  inspiration,  determined  to  rid 
forever  and  protect  one  portion  of  God's  green  earth  from  the 
tyrannical  heel  of  the  oppressor  and  the  rule  of  a  privileged  class. 
They  proposed  to  and  did  establish  upon  fresh  soil  a  new 
empire  of  freedom — that  had  long  lived  in  the  imaginations  of 
great  and  liberal  minds  in  France  and  England — with  liberty  and 
human  rights  as  its  corner-stone. 


THE  NEW  GOVERNMENT. 

The  convention  which  made  the  Constitution  of  1787  received 
its  "charter"  for  that  purpose  by  virtue  of  the  following  Resolu- 
tions of  Congress,  passed  Feb.  21,  1787: 

"Whereas,  There  is  provision,  in  the  Articles  of  Confederation 
and  Perpetual  Union,  for  making  alterations  therein,  by  assent  of 
a  Congress  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  Legislatures  of  the 
several  states ;  and 

"Whereas,  Experience  hath  evinced  that  there  are  defects  in 
the  present  Confederation,  as  a  means  to  remedy  which,  several 
of  the  States,  and  particularly  the  State  of  New  York,  by  express 
instructions  to  their  delegates  in  Congress,  have  suggested  a  Con- 
vention for  the  purposes  expressed  in  the  following  resolution; 
and  such  Convention  appearing  to  be  the  most  probable  means  of 
establishing  in  these  States  firm,  national  government: 

"Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  Congress,  it  is  expedient 
that  on  the  2nd  Monday  in  May  next,  a  Convention  of  delegates 


172  Constitutional  Government 


who  shall  have  been  appointed  by  the  several  States,  be  held  at 
Philadelphia,  for  the  sole  and  express  purpose  of  revising  the 
Articles  of  Confederation  and  reporting  to  Congress  and  the  sev- 
eral legislatures,  such  alterations  and  provisions  therein  as  shall, 
when  agreed  to  in  congress,  and  confirmed  by  the  States,  render 
the  Federal  Constitution  adequate  to  the  exigencies  of  govern- 
ment and  the  preservation  of  the  Union."  At  this  important 
convention  everyone  used  the  word  "National,"  "National  Execu- 
tive," "National  Legislature,"  "National  Judiciary".  The  idea 
was  to  make  a  firm  nation." 

Mr.  Clayton  says:  "Let  me  speak  of  the  pre-constitutional 
powers  exercised  under  what  may  be  called  the  'unwritten  Con- 
stitution, prior  to  the  writing  of  1787,  re-stated  by  the  written 
Constitution  of  1787." 

From  the  first  Colonial  Congress  of  1774,  and  under  the  Arti- 
cles of  Association  of  October,  1774,  until  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation of  1778,  "in  the  third  year  of  the  independence  of 
America,"  the  government  of  the  United  Colonies  was  purely  a 
congressional  parliamentary  government.  It  was  not  until  after 
July  4,  1776,  that  the  several  Colonies  assumed  to  be  and  actually 
were  organized  "States" ;  and  it  is  to  the  prior  de  facto  existence 
of  that  union  of  colonies  that  the  states  as  "States"  owe  their 
existence.  This  was  the  view  asserted  in  Lincoln's  first  inaugural 
address : 

"The  Union  is  much  older  than  the  Constitution.  It  was 
formed  in  fact  by  the  Articles  of  Association  in  1774.  It  was 
matured  and  continued  by  the  Declaration  of  Independence  in 
1776.  It  was  further  matured,  and  the  faith  of  the  then  thirteen 
States  expressly  plighted  and  engaged  that  it  should  be  perpet- 
uated, by  the  Articles  of  Confederation  in  1778.  And  finally^  in 
1787,  one  of  the  declared  objects  for  ordaining  and  establishing 
the  constitution  was  to  Form  a  More  Perfect  Union."  Lin- 
coln's view  is  abundantly  confirmed  by  the  historical  facts  of  the 
period  involved. 

The  patriotic  and  wise  founders  of  a  Great  Representative 
Democracy  held  up  before  the  admiring  gaze  of  the  whole  world 
a  constitution  for  the  guidance,  order,  happiness  and  liberty  of  a 
rapidly  increasing  people,  and  then  stepped  aside,  with  their  fam- 
ilies, and  nobly  left  it  for  each  generation  to  carry  forward.  This 
has  been  done  for  nearly  a  century  and  a  half,  and  God  grant 
that  it  may  go  on  for  a  thousand.  The  superiority  of  this  form  of 
government  over  all  others  has  been  fully  demonstrated  during 
the  past  century,  by  the  wonderful  accomplishments  and  progress 
made  in  the  United  States  under  its  fostering  care. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  as  handed  down  by  its 
illustrious  founders,  the  "members  of  the  Federal  Convention,  in 


Constitutional  Government  173 


1787,  was  a  wisely  designed  and  powerful  instrument,  far  in  ad- 
vance of  any  former  constitution.  It  had  taken  years  to  reach  the 
perfection  which  it  then  possessed.  Nevertheless,  it  still  con- 
tained, unfortunately,  several  inconsistencies  and  contradictions, 
on  account  of  the  conflicting  opinions  of  the  delegates  from  the 
North  and  the  South,  and  these  eventually  produced  discord,  and 
finally  civil  war. 

It  was  truly  said  by  Mr.  Gladstone  before  the  civil  war  that 
"the  United  States  Constitution  was  the  most  wonderful  instru- 
ment ever  struck  off  at  a  given  time  by  the  brain  of  man."  It 
needed,  however,  the  comprehensive  genius  and  clear  under- 
standing of  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  final  victory  of  the  Union  over 
disunion,  and  the  triumph  of  the  freedom-loving  people  of  Amer- 
ica to  complete  it. 

But  the  American  Republic  did  not  spring,  fully  developed, 
from  the  brains  of  its  creators,  like  Minerva  from  the  brow  of 
Jove.  It  was,  and  will  be,  a  creature  of  growth.  First  came 
the  Continental  Congress;  second,  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence; third,  the  Confederation  of  sovereign  States,  and  fourth, 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  of  America,  with  its  full 
powers  of  government,  suited  to  the  demands  of  a  Nation. 

After  the  civil  war  an  amended  constitution,  really  suitable 
for  a  free  people  was  created. 

The  original  settlers  in  the  American  colonies  from  England 
derived  the  elements  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  from  the  insti- 
tutions of  their  mother  country. 


Constitutional  Government  175 


CHAPTER  V. 


Events  Leading  to  the  Birth  of  a  Nation  ;  or,  The  Federal 
System  in  America — The  Constitution — The  Sover- 
eign Power. 

The  first  Colonial  Congress  assembled  at  New  York,  October 
7th,  1765.  Nine  colonies  were  represented  by  twenty-eight  dele- 
gates. Timothy  Ruggles,  of  Massachusetts,  was  chosen  Presi- 
dent. A  Declaration  of  Rights  was  adopted,  protesting  against 
taxation  without  representation. 

In  September,  1774,  the  second  Colonial  or  Continental  Con- 
gress assembled  in  Philadelphia,  twelve  colonies  being  repre- 
sented. During  this  interval  England  continued  her  policy  of 
oppression,  and  the  colonies  theirs  of  resistance.  An  appeal  was 
sent  to  the  King,  and  in  1776,  the  answer  of  George  III.  refusing 
it  and  treating  the  petitioners  with  contempt,  was  received.  He 
refused  to  recognize  the  Continental  Congress.  He  demanded 
submission  and  disbandment  of  the  army.  The  Colonies,  how- 
ever, with  George  Washington  at  the  head  of  their  forces,  pre- 
pared to  free  themselves  from  the  yoke  of  tyranny,  or  die  in  the 
attempt.  July  4th,  1776,  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
adopted,  and  the  war  continued  until  the  surrender  of  Corn- 
wallis,  October  19,  1781,  the  final  treaty  of  peace  being  signed 
Sept.  3,  1783,  by  all  the  contending  parties. 

The  Articles  of  Confederation  and  Perpetual  Union  for  the 
government  of  the  sovereign  States  were  signed  July  9,  1778,  by 
the  delegates  of  eight  States.  The  same  month  Georgia  and 
North  Carolina  affixed  their  signatures,  and  those  of  New  Jersey 
and  Delaware  were  added  in  February,  while  Maryland  did  not 
sign  until  March,  1781.  This  has  been  called  "a  loose  union  of 
Independent  Commonwealths."  Both  the  executive  and  legisla- 
tive powers  were  vested  in  Congress,  composed  of  two  to  seven 
representatives  from  each  state.  It  had  only  delegated  powers 
given  it  by  the  States,  which  reserved  the  sovereign  element  of 
power  to  themselves.  It  could  declare  war  and  establish  peace, 
regulate  intercourse  with  foreign  nations,  coin  money,  settle  dis- 
puted boundaries,  and  control  the  public  domain.  There  was  no 
provision  made  for  a  chief  magistrate  or  judiciary.  It  was  neces- 
sary to  have  the  affirmative  vote  of  nine  States  to  adopt  an  act 


176  Constitutional  Government 


of  legislature.  The  first  difficulty  arising  under  this  hastily  con- 
structed government  was  the  inability  of  Congress  to  levy  and 
collect  money  to  pay  the  war  debt  of  $38,000,000.  There  was 
confusion  and  instability  in  the  new  republic  under  the  articles 
of  confederation,  which  caused  those  who  had  gained  liberty  and 
a  great  country,  much  anxiety  for  its  safety.  In  1785  Gen. 
Washington  and  others  advised  a  convention  to  be  called  to 
remodel  it.  Five  states  only  met  the  first  time,  September,  1786, 
at  Annapolis,  in  Maryland ;  a  report  was  drawn  up  and  a  further 
convention  called  the  following  year,  which  adjourned  to  meet  in 
May,  1787,  in  Philadelphia,  at  which  time  all  the  States,  except 
Rhode  Island,  were  represented.  Washington  presided.  Edmund 
Yates  proposed  to  set  aside  the  articles  of  confederation,  and  adopt 
a  new  constitution.  This  was  done,  and  the  new  constitution, 
written  by  Gouverneur  Morris  was  reported  by  the  committee 
appointed  to  review  the  articles,  and  adopted  September,  1787. 
It  was  ratified  September  3,  1787,  by  Delaware;  on  the  13th 
by  Pennsylvania;  on  the  19th  by  New  Jersey;  on  January  2d 
by  Georgia;  on  the  7th  by  Connecticut;  on  February  6th  by 
Massachusetts;  on  April  28th,  1788,  by  Maryland;  then  by  South 
Carolina;  on  June  21st  by  New  Hampshire;  on  the  25th  by  Vir- 
ginia, after  a  bitter  contest ;  on  July  24th  by  New  York ;  on  No- 
vember 13,  1789,  by  North  Carolina,  and  on  May  29,  1790,  little 
Rhode  Island  finally  made  up  her  mind  to  ratify  it,  and  Vermont 
and  Kentucky  were  added  to  it.  (See  Elliott's  Debates,  Phila- 
delphia, 1 86 1.)  In  accordance  with  this  constitution,  George 
Washington  was  elected  president,  and  took  his  seat  in  the  execu- 
tive chair  April  30,  1789. 

"When  the  United  States  constitution  was  formed,  Virginia, 
Rhode  Island,  and  New  York  expressly  reserved  the  right,  it  is 
stated,  to  secede,  when  ratifying  the  constitution.  The  delegates 
in  Virginia  held  that  the  power  granted  under  the  constitution, 
being  derived  from  the  people  of  the  United  States,  may  be  re- 
sumed by  them  whenever  the  same  shall  be  perverted  to  their  in- 
jury or  oppression,  every  power  not  granted  thereby  to  remain 
with  them  at  their  will." 

This,  briefly  stated,  is  the  succession  of  events  leading  directly 
to  the  formation  of  the  representative  democracy  of  the  United 
States  on  the  alleged  basis  of  liberty  and  equality.  It  was  not, 
however,  in  reality  a  government  of  that  nature  until  after  the 
subsequent  war  to  put  down  the  rebellion,  the  freeing  of  the 
slaves,  September  22,  1863,  by  proclamation  of  President 
Lincoln,  and  the  extension  to  them  of  the  right  of  suffrage  by 
the  fifteenth  amendment  to  the  constitution. 

After  passing  through  the  careful  hands  of  Alexander  Hamil- 
ton, James  Madison,  John  Jay,  Benj.  Franklin  and  Washington, 


Constitutional  Government  177 


opposed  and  criticised  by  Jefferson  and  other  anti-Federalists, 
and  after  a  terrible  civil  war  to  preserve  its  supremacy,  and  the 
addition  of  the  fifteenth  amendment,  ratified  by  three-fourths  of 
the  legislatures  of  the  Federal  states,  including  those  amendments 
guaranteeing  religious  freedom  abolishing  slavery,  and  forbid- 
ding the  abridgment  of  suffrage  on  account  of  race  or  color,  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  stands  today  as  one  of  the  most 
complete  and  masterly  state  documents  the  world  has  yet  seen, 
for  sustaining  and  directing  a  representative  form  of  govern- 
ment. Its  present  conspicuous  characteristic  is  its  consistent  dec- 
laration of  equality,  and  its  powerful  support  of  individual  inde- 
pendence. In  these  particulars  it  stands  out  boldly  before  the 
world,  in  striking  contrast  to  the  written  and  unwritten  con- 
stitutions and  state  papers  of  other  nationalities,  under  monarch- 
ical, aristocratic  or  mixed  forms  of  government.  The  people  liv- 
ing today  under  its  benign  influence  should,  and  do,  enjoy  a 
freedom  and  happiness  never  known  in  any  nation  before.  They 
are  indebted,  in  a  great  measure,  after  the  founders,  to  the  heroes 
of  the  war  to  suppress  the  rebellion,  and  to  Lincoln  and  other 
great  statesmen  of  that  eventful  period,  who  maintained  the 
Union  and  the  Constitution. 


THE   CONSTITUTION    OE    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

It  begins:  "We,  the  People  of  the  United  States,  in  order 
to  form  a  more  perfect  union,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic 
tranquility,  provide  for  the  common  defense,  promote  the  gener?? 
welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our 
posterity,  do  ordain  and  establish  this  Constitution  for  the  United 
States  of  America."  This  is  a  strong  root  of  the  grand  century 
plant,  placed  on  the  American  continent  by  the  early  fathers.  It 
is  not  a  contract  between  sovereign  states,  like  the  Constitution  of 
the  cantons  of  Switzerland,  which  are  sovereign  states  when  not 
limited  by  the  federal  constitution,  dependent  upon  their  individ- 
ual wills  for  its  prosperity  and  the  execution  of  its  powers,  but 
it  is  the  fundamental  law  of  the  land,  and  a  supreme  constitu- 
tional sovereignty,  the  same  as  if  it  existed  in  the  person  of  a 
never-dying  constitutional  monarch  with  strictly  defined  and  lim- 
ited powers,  but  subject  to  a  change  of  powers  as  provided  for 
therein. 

But  this  sovereign,  unlike  those  familiar  to  us  in  history, 
demands  and  enforces  freedom  and  equality  among  his  subjects. 
They  are  to  elect  all  their  representatives  periodically,  through 
their  universal  possession  of  the  elective  franchise,  and  the  pow- 
ers of  those  representatives  are  limited  and  defined.    The  gov- 


178  Constitutional  Government 


ernment  is  divided  into  three  distinct  departments,  the  legislative, 
executive  and  judicial.  All  the  powers  of  the  first  are  vested  in 
a  Congress  of  the  United  States,  consisting  of  a  Senate  and  a 
House  of  Representatives.  The  powers  of  the  second  are  vested 
in  a  President  of  the  United  States  of  America,  who  shall  hold 
his  office  during  the  term  of  four  years,  and  is  to  enforce  the 
laws  of  Congress  in  accordance  with  the  constitution.  He  is 
also  Commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy  of  the  United 
States,  and  of  the  militia  of  the  several  states,  when  called  into 
the  actual  service  of  the  United  States.  The  powers  of  the 
third  are  vested  in  one  Supreme  Court,  and  in  such  inferior 
courts  as  Congress  may  from  time  to  time  ordain  and  estab- 
lish. The  judges,  both  of  the  Supreme  and  inferior  courts, 
shall  hold  their  office  during  good  behavior,  and  shall  at  stated 
times  receive  for  their  services  a  compensation  which  shall  not 
be  diminished  during  their  continuance  in  office.  Full  faith 
shall  be  given  in  all  states  to  the  records  of  every  state;  citizens 
of  each  state  shall  be  entitled  to  the  privileges  of  citizens  in  the 
several  states ;  new  territories  may  be  organized  and  new  states 
admitted  into  the  Union. 

"The  division  of  the  powers  of  government  among  the  three 
departments,  executive,  legislative,  and  judicial,  rests  on  the  as- 
sumption that  while  no  one  of  them  is  in  itself  sovereign  and 
unlimited  in  authority,  yet  each  is  independent  of  the  others." 
— McClain,  page  55. 

"By  the  distribution  of  the  powers  of  government  among 
several  branches,  as  provided  for  in  the  constitution,  each  of 
these  branches,  the  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  depart- 
ment of  the  government,  becomes  in  its  respective  sphere  the 
immediate  and  equal  representative  of  the  people  as  the  direct 
source  of  its  depositary  of  the  sovereign  power." — Duer  on  the 
Constitution,  page  26. 

Therefore,  in  this  collective  body  of  three  distinct  depart- 
ments, all  the  rays  of  power  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States 
should  be  united  and  concentrated  as  in  a  centre,  and  form  by  that 
perfect  union  a  consistency,  splendor  and  power  which  should 
make  it  feared  and  respected  by  all  foreign  nations  and  poten- 
tates, and  honored  and  obeyed  by  the  people  who  voluntarily, 
for  their  general  security,  place  themselves  under  its  control. 
This  supremacy  and  power  cannot  be  successfully  obtained 
under  a  confederacy  of  sovereign  states. 

In  all  governments  there  must  be  a  supreme  and  controlling 
power  placed  in  some  particular  person,  or  assembly  of  persons 
chosen  by  the  people,  as  in  a  republic,  or  hereditary  as  in  a  mon- 
archy from  which  central  point  can  flow  the  commands,  to  do  or 


Constitutional  Government  179 


not  to  do  certain  things  for  or  against  the  good  of  all  under  that 
government,  or  else  there  is  no  government. 

This  supreme  power  the  Federalists  succeeded  in  placing, 
after  much  opposition,  in  the  general  government  by  the  adoption 
of  the  constitution,  and  the  Federalists  for  many  years  nobly 
defended  that  ideal  constitution  and  the  principles  in  it,  en- 
dorsed so  earnestly  by  Gen.  Washington,  Hamilton,  Monroe  and 
Madison.  John  C.  Calhoun  used  the  strength  of  his  gifted  in- 
tellect in  defending,  like  Jefferson,  the  position  of  the  anti-Fed- 
eralists. The  idea  of  state  sovereignty  was  held  by  the  slave- 
holders of  the  South,  as  it  gave  into  their  hands  the  absolute  con- 
trol of  the  states  in  which  they  lived.  They  could  by  this  means 
create,  practically,  little  principalities  over  which  they  could  rule 
absolutely,  and  keep  in  perpetual  subjugation  the  negroes  and 
the  poor  whites,  free  from  the  interposition  of  the  general 
government.  They  would  soon  have  stood,  if  successful  in  their 
endeavors  to  change  the  constitution,  toward  a  confederacy  of 
states,  the  same  as  the  dukedoms  and  principalities  of  Germany 
stood,  under  an  elective  monarchy,  towards  the  Elector's  govern- 
ment. Even  now,  if  the  control  of  each  state  were  left  in 
the  hands  of  local  politicians  and  a  dominant  party  in  the  state, 
the  liberty  of  citizens  would  soon  be  overridden,  and  a  dictatorial 
and  tyrannical  home  rule  established,  and  the  people  would  have 
no  redress. 

In  the  sixth  article  and  second  clause  of  the  Constitution,  it 
says:  "This  Constitution,  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
which  shall  be  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  and  all  treaties  made, 
or  which  shall  be  made,  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States, 
shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land;  and  the  judges  in  every 
state  shall  be  bound  thereby,  anything  in  the  constitution  or  laws 
of  any  State  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding."  The  adoption 
of  this  clause,  with  the  rest  of  the  instrument,  by  the  requisite 
number  of  states,  and  finallv  by  all  the  states,  should  have  put  an 
end  to  this  controversy.  Then  an  appeal  to  arms  being  taken 
and  decided  in  favor  of  the  same  principle,  that  should  havte 
settled  the  matter  forever.  Anyone  can  see  that  when  the  su- 
preme power  is  placed  in  many  states,  it  would  naturally  be  sub- 
ject to  many  wills;  many  wills,  if  disunited,  drawing  different 
ways,  create  weakness  in  government;  and  to  unite  these  several 
wills,  and  reduce  them  to  one,  is  the  work  of  more  time  and  delay 
than  the  exigencies  of  state  can  afford.  Therefore  the  supreme 
power  to  act  should  be  centralized  and  placed  in  one  central  gov- 
ernment so  that  it  may  act  independently  and  supremely. 


180  Constitutional  Government 


DE  TOCQUEVIU.E  ON  THE  AMERICAN  JUDICIARY. 

"The  executive  power  of  the  federal  or  state  government  is 
necessarily  vested  in  the  executive  department.  Our  system  of 
government,  however,  does  not  recognize  administrative  law  as 
superior  to  the  civil  law  administered  by  the  courts.  Executive 
officers,  even  the  highest,  are  subject  to  the  law." — (McClain, 
who  refers  to  A.  V.  Dickey,  Law  of  the  Constitution,  Chapter  V, 
VI;  A.  de  Tocqueville,  Democracy  In  America,  Chapter  V.) 

"The  reasoning  on  which  this  exercise  of  power  by  the  courts 
in  the  United  States  is  based  is  the  following :  The  law-making 
power  of  the  federal  or  of  a  state  government  exercises  only 
delegated  authority,  and  it  cannot  transcend  constitutional  limi- 
tations imposed  upon  it;  and  therefore  its  acts,  when  without 
authority,  or  in  violation  of  constitutional  limitations,  are  invalid. 
If  such  a  statute  were  to  be  regarded  by  the  courts  as  a  part  of 
the  law,  binding  upon  them,  then  constitutional  limitations,  trans- 
gressed by  such  a  statute,  would  be  of  no  validity  whatever." 

"In  Great  Britain  no  acts  of  Parliament  regularly  adopted  can 
be  said  to  be  unconstitutional  in  the  sense  of  being  invalid  and 
without  legal  effect.  The  real  distinction,  then  consists  in  the 
fact  that  the  government  of  Great  Britain  is  regarded  as  pos- 
sessing sovereign  power,  while  the  federal  and  state  governments 
of  the  United  States  possess  only  such  powers  as  are  generally 
or  specifically  delegated  to  them. 

"The  imperial  constitution  of  Germany  contains  a  bill  of  rights, 
but  the  courts  have  no  power  to  declare  void  an  unconstitutional 
law." 

"The  relation  of  the  federal  tribunal  in  Switzerland  to  the  legis- 
lature is  unlike  that  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
for  it  is  bound  by  an  express  provison  of  the  constitution  to  apply 
every  law  passed  by  the  federal  assembly."  (See  Constitution, 
of  Switzerland,  Article  113,  and  A.  Lawrence  Lowell,  Govern- 
ments in  Continental  Europe,  Vol.  2,  page  219.) 

It  is  often  remarked  that  no  one  has  explained  the  American 
commonwealth  to  itself  so  wisely  as  Mr.  Bryce,  an  Englishman, 
has  done,  and  it  is  likewise  true  that  no  one  has  given  a  more 
logical  and  discerning  estimate  of  the  working  of  democracy 
as  example  in  the  United  States  than  the  Frenchman,  de  Tocque- 
ville, in  his  "Democracy  in  America."  The  following  passage 
is  an  example  of  his  clear  statement  of  the  functions  of  the  vari- 
ous branches  of  the  government." 

"The  peace,  the  prosperity,  the  very  existence  of  the  Union  are 
vested  in  the  hands  of  the  seven  federal  judges.  Without  them 
the  constitution  would  be  a  dead  letter.  The  executive  appeals 
to  them  for  assistance  against  the  encroachments  of  the  legisla- 


Constitutional  Government  181 


tive  power;  the  legislature  demands  their  protection  against  the 
assaults  of  the  executive.  They  defend  the  Union  from  the  diso- 
bedience of  the  states,  and  the  states  from  the  exaggerated  claims 
of  the  Union,  the  public  interests  against  private  interests  and  the 
conservative  element  of  stability  against  the  fickleness  of  the 
democracy.  Their  power  is  enormous,  but  it  is  the  power  of 
public  opinion.  They  are  all-powerful  as  long  as  the  people  re- 
spect the  law;  but  they  would  be  impotent  against  popular  ne- 
glect or  contempt  of  the  law.  The  force  of  public  opinion  is 
the  most  intractable  of  agents,  because  its  exact  limits  cannot 
be  defined ;  and  it  is  not  less  dangerous  to  exceed,  than  to  remain 
below  the  boundary  prescribed. 

"The  federal  judges  must  not  only  be  good  citizens,  and  men 
of  that  information  and  integrity  which  are  indispensable  to  all 
magistrates,  but  they  must  be  statesmen,  wise  to  discern  the  signs 
of  the  times,  not  afraid  to  brave  the  obstacles  which  can  be  sub- 
dued, nor  slow  to  turn  away  from  the  current  when  it  threatens 
to  sweep  them  off,  and  the  supremacy  of  the  Union  and  the 
obedience  due  to  the  laws  along  with  them." 

If  the  supreme  court  is  to  pass  a  final  judgment  on  all  acts 
of  Congress  it  should  do  so  after  the  President  has  signed  the 
bills  and  before  they  become  published  as  the  laws  of  the  land. 

"A  clear  understanding  of  the  declared  supremacy  of  the  fed- 
eral government,  and  of  the  conclusiveness  of  the  interpretation 
by  the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States  of  the  scope  of  these 
powers,  will  indicate  that  there  is  no  possibility  of  any  conflict 
between  the  federal  government  and  the  government  of  a  state. 
If  conflicting  assertions  of  authority  are  to  be  reconciled  by  peace- 
ful and  lawful  means,  rather  than  by  the  resort  to  violence, 
it  must  be  by  the  recognition  of  ultimate  authority  somewhere  to 
determine  the  controversy ;  and  there  can  be  no  reasonable  ques- 
tion as  to  the  intention  of  the  framers  of  the  constitution  that  this 
ultimate  solution  would  be  furnished  by  the  federal  government, 
and  that  it  should  be  binding  upon  all."  (Emlin  McClain,  Con- 
stitutional Law  in  the  United  States.) 


CONSTITUENT  AND  LAW  MAKING  POWER. 

A.  Lawrence  Lowell,  referring  to  de  Tocqueville's  definition 
of  constitution,  says:  "He  meant  a  perfectly  definite  thing  to 
which  nothing  in  England  conformed."  "He  had  in  mind  an- 
other meaning  which  is  commonly  attached  to  the  term  'Consti- 
tution.' "  It  is  that  of  an  instrument  of  special  sanctity,  distinct 
in  character  from  all  other  laws ;  and  alterable  only  by  a  peculiar 
process  differing  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  from  ordinary  forms 


182  Constitutional  Government 


of  legislation."  Congress  can  pass  an  act  and  with  the  approval 
of  the  president  becomes  the  law  of  the  land,  unless  held  un- 
constitutional by  the  Supreme  Court,  but  Congress  has  no  power 
to  change  constitutions.  They  can  introduce  a  resolution  to  this 
effect  but  it  must  be  passed  by  two-thirds  of  the  states.  This 
provision  should  be  stipulated  in  every  constitution  in  a  represen- 
tative government.  In  nearly  every  constitutional  government 
there  is  a  different  method  for  changing  the  constitution,  and  the 
change  or  inauguration  of  the  laws.  The  constitution  is  general- 
ly held  to  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land  above  all  other  laws. 
There  is  a  separation  of  the  constituent  and  law  making  powers. 
"The  famous  decision  of  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  that  "An  act 
of  Congress  inconsistent  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  must  be  treated  as  invalid,"  was  a  logical  necessity.  The 
Constitution  was  certainly  intended  to  be  a  law,  and  as  such  it 
could  be  enforced  by  the  courts.  But  if  that  law  came  into  con- 
flict with  another  law,  an  act  of  Congress,  for  example,  the 
courts  must  consider,  as  in  other  cases  of  conflict  of  laws,  which 
law  was  of  superior  authority ;  and  there  could  be  no  doubt  that 
the  Constitution  was  the  superior  of  the  two."  (A.  Lawrence 
Lowell,  The  Government  of  England,  Vol.  I,  p.  6.) 


chief  justice  Marshall's  opinion. 

The  authority,  therefore,  given  to  the  supreme  court  by  the 
act  establishing  the  judicial  courts  of  the  United  States,  to  issue 
writs  of  mandamus  to  public  officers,  appears  not  to  be  warranted 
by  the  constitution,  and  it  becomes  necessary  to  inquire  whether 
a  jurisdiction  so  conferred  can  be  exercised.  The  question  whe- 
ther an  act  repugnant  to  the  constitution  can  become  the  law  of 
the  land  is  a  question  deeply  interesting  to  the  United  States, 
but,  happily,  not  of  an  intricacy  proportioned  to  its  interest.  It 
seems  only  necessary  to  recognize  certain  principles  supposed  to 
have  been  long  and  well  established  to  decide  it. 

That  the  people  have  an  original  right  to  establish,  for  their 
future  government,  such  principles  as  in  their  opinion  shall  most 
conduce  to  their  own  happiness,  is  the  basis  on  which  the  whole 
American  fabric  has  been  erected.  The  exercise  of  this  original 
right  is  a  very  great  exertion;  nor  can  it,  or  ought  it  to  be  fre- 
quently repeated.  The  principles,  therefore,  so  established  are 
deemed  fundamental ;  and  as  the  authority  from  which  they  pro- 
ceed is  supreme  and  can  seldom  act,  they  are  designed  to  be 
permanent.  This  original  and  supreme  will  organizes  the  govern- 
ment and  assigns  to  the  different  departments  their  respective 


Constitutional  Government  183 


powers.  It  may  either  stop  here,  or  establish  certain  limits  not 
to  be  transcended  by  those  departments. 

The  government  of  the  United  States  is  of  the  latter  descrip- 
tion. The  powers  of  the  legislature  are  defined  and  limited,  and, 
that  those  limits  may  not  be  mistaken  or  forgotten,  the  constitu- 
tion is  written.  To  what  purpose  are  powers  limited  and  to 
what  purpose  is  that  limitation  committed  to  writing,  if  these  lim- 
its may  at  any  time  be  passed  by  those  intended  to  be  restrained  ? 
The  distinction  between  a  government  with  limited  and  unlimited 
powers  is  abolished  if  those  limits  do  not  confine  the  persons  on 
whom  they  are  imposed,  and  if  acts  prohibited  and  acts  allowed 
are  of  ecmal  obligation.  It  is  a  proposition  too  plain  to  be  contest- 
ed that  the  constitution  controls  any  legislative  act  repugnant  to 
it,  or  that  the  legislature  may  alter  the  constitution  by  an  ordinary 
act. 

Between  these  alternatives  there  is  no  middle  ground.  The 
constitution  is  either  a  superior  paramount  law,  unchangeable 
by  ordinary  means,  or  it  is  on  a  level  with  ordinary  legislative 
acts  and,  like  other  acts,  is  alterable  when  the  legislature  shall 
please  to  alter  it. 

If  the  former  part  of  the  alternative  be  true,  then  a  legislative 
act  contrary  to  the  constitution  is  not  law;  if  the  latter  part  be 
true,  then  written  constitutions  are  absurd  attempts,  on  the  part 
of  the  people,  to  limit  a  power  in  its  own  nature  illimitable.  Cer- 
tainly all  of  those  who  have  framed  written  constitutions  con- 
template them  as  forming  the  fundamental  and  paramount  law 
of  the  nation,  and  consequently,  the  theory  of  every  such  govern- 
ment must  be  that  an  act  of  the  legislature,  repugnant  to  the  con- 
stitution, is  void. 

This  theory  is  essentially  attached  to  a  written  constitution,  and 
is  consequently  to  be  considered,  by  this  court,  as  one  of  the 
fundamental  principles  of  our  society.  It  is  not,  therefore,  to 
be  lost  sight  of  in  the  further  consideration  of  this  subject.  If 
an  act  of  the  legislature,  repugnant  to  the  constitution,  is  void, 
does  it,  notwithstanding  its  invalidity,  bind  the  courts,  and  oblige 
them  to  give  it  effect?  Or,  in  other  words,  though  it  be  not  law, 
does  it  constitute  a  rule  as  operative  as  if  it  was  a  law?  This 
would  be  to  overthrow  in  fact  what  was  established  in  theory; 
and  would  seem,  at  first  view,  an  absurdity  too  gross  to  be  insist- 
ed on.    It  shall,  however,  receive  a  more  attentive  consideration. 

It  is  emphatically  the  province  and  duty  of  the  judicial  de- 
partment to  say  what  the  law  is.  Those  who  apply  the  rule  to 
particular  cases  must  of  necessity  expound  and  interpret  that 
rule.  If  two  laws  conflict  with  each  other,  the  courts  must  de- 
cide on  the  operation  of  each.     So  if  a  law  be  in  opposition  to 


184  Constitutional  Government 


the  constitution ;  if  both  the  law  and  the  constitution  apply  to  a 
particular  case,  so  that  the  court  must  either  decide  that  case  con- 
formably to  the  law,  disregarding  the  constitution,  or  conform- 
ably to  the  constitution,  disregarding  the  law,  the  court  must  de- 
termine which  of  these  conflicting  rules  governs  the  case.  This 
is  of  the  very  essence  of  judicial  duty. 

If,  then,  the  courts  are  to  regard  the  constitution,  and  the  con- 
stitution is  superior  to  any  ordinary  act  of  the  legislature,  the 
constitution,  and  not  such  ordinary  act,  must  govern  the  case  to 
which  they  both  apply.  Those,  then,  who  controvert  the  prin- 
ciple that  the  constitution  is  to  be  considered,  in  court,  as  a 
paramount  law,  are  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  maintaining  that 
courts  must  close  their  eyes  on  the  constitution,  and  see  only  the 
law. 

This  doctrine  would  subvert  the  very  foundation  of  all  written 
constitutions.  It  would  declare  that  an  act  which,  according  to 
the  principles  and  theory  of  our  government,  is  entirely  void,  is 
yet,  in  practice,  completely  obligatory.  It  would  declare  that  if 
the  legislature  shall  do  what  is  expressly  forbidden,  such  act, 
notwithstanding  the  express  prohibition,  is  in  reality  effectual. 
It  would  be  giving  to  the  legislature  a  practical  and  real  omnip- 
otence, with  the  same  breath  which  professes  to  restrict  their 
powers  within  narrow  limits.  It  is  prescribing  limits,  and  de- 
claring that  those  limits  may  be  passed  at  pleasure. 

That  it  thus  reduces  to  nothing  what  we  have  deemed  the 
greatest  improvement  on  political  institutions,  a  written  constitu- 
tion, would  of  itself  be  sufficient,  in  America,  where  written  con- 
stitutions have  been  viewed  with  so  much  reverence,  for  reject- 
ing the  construction.  But  the  peculiar  expressions  of  the  consti- 
tution of  the  United  States  furnish  additional  arguments  in 
favor  of  its  rejection. 

The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  is  extended  to  all 
cases  arising  under  the  constitution.  Could  it  be  the  intention  of 
those  who  gave  this  power,  to  say  that  in  using  it  the  constitution 
should  not  be  looked  into  ?  That  a  case  arising  under  the  consti- 
tution should  be  decided  without  examining  the  instrument  under 
which  it  arises?  This  is  too  extravagant  to  be  maintained.  In 
some  cases,  then,  the  constitution  must  be  looked  into  by  the 
judges.  And  if  they  can  open  it  at  all,  what  part  of  it  are  they 
forbidden  to  read  or  to  obey  ? 

There  are  many  other  parts  of  the  constitution  which  serve  to 
illustrate  this  subject.  It  is  declared  that  "no  tax  or  duty  shall 
be  laid  on  articles  exported  from  any  state."  Suppose  a  duty  on 
the  export  of  cotton,  of  tobacco,  or  of  flour ;  and  a  suit  instituted 
to  recover  it.     Ought  judgment  to  be  rendered  in  such  a  case? 


Constitutional  Government  185 


Ought  the  judges  to  close  their  eyes  on  the  constitution,  and  only 
see  the  law? 

The  constitution  declares,  that  "no  bill  of  attainder  or  ex 
post  facto  law  shall  be  passed."  If,  however,  such  a  bill  should 
be  passed,  and  a  person  should  be  prosecuted  under  it,  must  the 
court  condemn  to  death  those  victims  whom  the  constitution  en- 
deavors to  preserve? 

"No  person,"  says  the  constitution,  "shall  be  convicted 
of  treason  unless  on  the  testimony  of  two  witnesses  to  the  same 
overt  act,  or  on  confession  in  open  court."  Here  the  language 
of  the  constitution  is  addressed  especially  to  the  courts.  It  pre- 
scribes, directly  for  them,  a  rule  of  evidence  not  to  be  departed 
from.  If  the  legislature  should  change  that  rule,  and  declare 
one  witness,  or  a  confession  out  of  court,  sufficient  for  conviction, 
must  the  constitutional  principle  yield  to  the  legislative  act? 

From  these,  and  many  other  selections  which  might  be  made, 
it  is  apparent  that  the  framers  of  the  constitution  contemplated 
that  instrument  as  a  rule  for  the  government  of  courts  as  well  as 
of  the  legislature.  Why  otherwise  does  it  direct  the  judges  to 
take  an  oath  to  support  it?  This  oath  certainly  applies  in  an 
especial  manner  to  their  conduct  in  their  official  character.  How 
immoral  to  impose  it  on  them  if  they  were  to  be  used  as  the  in- 
struments, and  the  knowing  instruments,  for  violating  what  they 
swear  to  support! 

The  oath  of  office,  too,  imposed  by  the  legislature,  is  complete- 
ly demonstrative  of  the  legislative  opinion  on  this  subject.  It  is 
in  these  words :  "I  do  solemnly  swear  that  I  will  administer 
justice  without  respect  to  persons,  and  do  equal  right  to  the 
poor  and  to  the  rich;  and  that  I  will  faithfully  and  impartially 

discharge  all  the  duties  incumbent  on  me  as ,  according 

to  the  best  of  my  abilities  and  understanding,  agreeably  to  the 
constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States." 

Why  does  a  judge  swear  to  discharge  his  duties  agreeably  to 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States  if  that  constitution  forms 
no  rule  for  his  government — if  it  is  closed  upon  him,  and  cannot 
be  inspected  by  him?  If  such  be  the  real  state  of  things,  this  is 
worse  than  solemn  mockery.  To  prescribe  or  to  take  this  oath 
becomes  equally  a  crime. 

It  is  also  not  entirely  unworthy  of  observation  that  in  declar- 
ing what  shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land  the  constitution  it- 
self is  first  mentioned ;  and  not  the  laws  of  the  United  States  gen- 
erally, but  those  only  which  shall  be  made  in  pursuance  of  the 
constitution,  have  that  rank.  Thus,  the  particular  phraseology 
of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  confirms  and  strengthens 
the  principle,  supposed  to  be  essential  to  all  written  constitu- 


186  Constitutional  Government 


tions,  that  a  law  repugnant  to  the  constitution  is  void;  and  that 
courts,  as  well  as  other  departments,  are  bound  by  that  instru- 
ment.    (Marbery  vs.  Madison,  I  Crouch  137,  Dec.  1803.) 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  DRKD  SCOTT  DECISION. 

A  close  study  of  the  speeches  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  during 
his  contest  with  Judge  Douglas  in  1858,  will  show  that  he  criti- 
cised the  Dred  Scott  Decision  as  severely  as  Roosevelt  has  some 
of  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  today  in  the  Standard  Oil 
and  Tobacco  Trust  cases.  He  was  not  afraid  to  arraign  Chief 
Justice  Taney  before  the  bar  of  public  opinion. 

He  said:  "I  now  repeat  my  opposition  to  the  Dred  Scott  De- 
cision— 'If  I  were  in  Congress  and  a  vote  should  come  up  on  a 
question  whether  slavery  should  be  prohibited  in  a  new  ter- 
ritory, in  spite  of  the  Dred  Scott  Decision,  I  would  vote  that  it 
should.'" 

"The  sacredness  that  Judge  Douglas  threw  around  this  deci- 
sion, is  a  degree  of  sacredness  that  has  never  been  thrown  be- 
fore around  any  other  decision". 

"A  National  Bank  was  declared  unconstitutional — then  Gen- 
eral Jackson  (who  was  president)  said  that  'the  Supreme  Court 
had  no  right  to  lay  down  a  rule  to  govern  a  co-ordinate  branch 
of  the  government,  the  members  of  which  had  sworn  to  support 
the  Constitution, — that  each  member  had  sworn  to  support  the 
Constitution  as  he  understood  it.' " 

"We  think  the  Dred  Scott  decision  is  erroneous.  We  know  the 
court  that  made  it  has  often  over-ruled  its  own  decisions,  and 
we  shall  do  what  we  can  to  have  it  overrule  this".  "We  offer  no 
resistance  to  it". 

"Chief  Justice  Taney  insists  that  negroes  were  no  part  of  the 
people  who  made,  or  for  whom  was  made  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence, of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  On  the 
contrary,  Judge  Curtis,  in  his  dissenting  opinion,  shows  that  in 
five  of  the  then  thirteen  states  free  negroes  were  voters." 

The  election  of  Lincoln,  for  whom  I  voted,  was  a  protest 
against  the  Supreme  Court  decision  in  the  Dred  Scott  case.  The 
result  was  that  slavery  was  never  extended  into  the  territories, 
and  this  decision  was  annulled  by  the  will  of  the  majority,  car- 
ried out  through  Abraham  Lincoln  in  the  war  for  the  Union 
against  the  secessionists. 

Later  the  Constitution  itself  was  changed  after  a  great  Civil 
War,  and  negroes  were  given  the  right  of  suffrage  and  given 
the  liberty  of  moving  about  anywhere  in  the  United  States. 


Constitutional  Government  187 


The  people  will  continue  to  express  and  carry  out  their  will  in 
reference  to  all  issues  that  affect  their  interests.  Neither 
Canadian  nor  English  courts  can  set  aside  legislative  acts. 

Some  say  the  people  are  not  competent  to  rule  themselves  in 
the  United  States  through  the  right  of  universal  suffrage,  or  be 
trusted  with  a  referendum,  but  it  so  happens  that  the  people  now 
have  universal  suffrage  and  who  is  going  to  take  it  from  them? 
They  are  sovereign  and  will  fight  for  the  rights  they  now  possess 
and  hold  them  as  firmly  as  those  who  have  vast  estates  will  hold 
them. 

The  people  will  continue  to  express  their  will  in  reference  to 
all  present  and  future  questions  that  affect  them.  The  trusts  and 
the  high  tariff  for  special  interests  will  be  met  by  them  in  one 
way  or  another  and  their  purpose  will  not  be  thwarted  by  courts 
or  legislative  bodies  which  misrepresent  them. 

The  right  of  the  extension  of  slavery  into  the  territories  of 
the  United  States  and  other  questions  relating  to  this  incident 
should  have  been  submitted  by  the  referendum  to  the  citizens  of 
the  entire  country,  who  alone  possess  the  sovereign  power.  If 
they  had  decided  in  the  negative  that  would  have  settled  the  case 
and  prevented  the  civil  war.  This  would  have  been  the  method 
used  in  Switzerland,  where  the  referendum  and  initiative  are  in- 
stitutions which  are  considered  the  powerful  weapons  of  democ- 
racy. 

A  mere  majority  of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  court  should 
not  have  the  right  to  take  away  or  nullify  the  sovereign  power  of 
the  people  expressed  through  congress,  as  was  attempted  in  the 
Dred  Scott  decision. 

The  entire  question  of  high  tariff  and  the  right  of  powerful 
trusts  to  combine  and  destroy  competition  and  override  the  will 
of  the  people  should  now  be  submitted  to  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  by  referendum. 


THE    ''GRANDFATHER    CLAUSE" — LITERARY    DIGEST,    JULY    3,    1915. 

Despite  the  fact  that  the  Supreme  Court  decisions  in  the  Okla- 
homa and  Maryland  "grandfather-clause"  cases  are  declared  by 
the  New  York  Evening  Post  (Ind.)  to  "mean  as  much  forward 
as  the  Dred  Scott  case  did  backward,"  and  are  generally  regarded 
as  an  epochal  victory  for  the  colored  citizen,  we  are  reminded 
by  more  than  one  paper  that  they  do  not  actually  give  the  vote 
to  one  negro  who  does  not  possess  it  already.  What  they  do, 
however,  is  to  strike  at  discrimination  in  certain  Southern  States 
by  taking  away  the  franchise  from  illiterate  whites  who  have 


188  Constitutional  Government 


hitherto  been  exempted  from  educational  or  property  tests  to 
which  all  negro  voters  had  to  submit.  The  Fifteenth  Amend- 
ment of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  provides  that  "the 
right  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  shall  not  be 
denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or  by  any  State  on  ac- 
count of  race,  color  or  previous  condition  or  servitude,"  and  the 
so-called  "grandfather  clause"  is  one  of  many  devices  resorted  to 
by  Southern  States  to  evade  this  law.  The  plan,  in  a  nutshell, 
is  to  permit  a  special  exemption  from  property  or  literacy  tests 
to  descendants  of  persons  who  could  vote  before  the  Fifteenth 
Amendment  was  adopted.  The  unanimous  opinion  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,  handed  down  by  Chief  Justice  White,  himself  a 
Southerner  and  a  veteran  of  the  Confederate  Army,  now  de- 
clares this  device  unconstitutional  because  it  "recreated  the  very 
conditions  which  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  was  intended  to  de- 
stroy." In  full  agreement  with  Chief  Justice  White  were  two 
other  Southerners — Justice  Lamar  and  Justice  McReynolds. 

"Those  States  which  now  have  this  'grandfather  clause'  in 
their  constitutions  or  their  laws  must  either  enforce  the  literacy 
test  against  whites  as  well  as  negroes,  or  broaden  their  voting 
qualifications,"  notes  the  New  York  Herald  (Ind.).  But  the 
New  York  Sun  (Ind.)  assures  its  readers  that  "the  political  hue 
of  the  South  will  remain  white,"  and  that  this  decision  "will 
not  deliver  any  State  government  to  the  negro  race."  "It  is  con- 
ceivable," the  same  paper  adds,  "that  in  some  communities  the 
exclusion  of  black  men's  votes  will  be  less  complete  in  conse- 
quence of  the  decision,  but  the  practical  effect  will  be  of  no 
moment."  The  New  York  Times  (Ind.  Dem.)  recalls  how  negro 
rule  in  a  section  of  North  Carolina  was  overturned  by  a  white 
mob  in  a  riot  in  which  twelve  negroes  and  three  white  men  were 
shot.  "Order  and  the  white  man,"  it  adds,  "have  reigned  in 
North  Carolina  ever  since." 

"This  incident,  the  last  of  the  kind  which  was  of  any  great 
importance,  is  referred  to  here  to  show  how  persistent  is  the 
legacy  of  crime  and  violence  left  by  the  misguided  'statesmen'  of 
reconstruction.  The  white  man  will  rule  his  land.  The  only 
question  left  by  the  Supreme  Court's  decision  is  how  he  will 
rule  it." 

Even  so  old  and  loyal  a  champion  of  the  negro  as  the  New 
York  Evening  Post  expresses  "sympathy  with  the  South  in  the 
efforts  it  will  now  have  to  make  to  adjust  itself  to  the  new  con- 
ditions," but  it  holds  that  "if  we  are  in  peril  from  an  ignorant 
vote,  the  remedy  is  not  to  suppress  it,  but  to  be  just  and  fair 
to  it  and  to  educate  it,"  so  that  "a  mighty  impulse  to  the  already 
powerful  movement  for  better  common-school  education  in  the 
South  ought  to  follow  the  Supreme  Court  decision." 


Constitutional  Government  189 


Turning  to  the  Southern  press,  we  find  very  little  excitement. 
Thus  the  Norfolk  Virginian-Pilot  (Dem.)  remarks  that  the 
Supreme  Court  could  not  have  arrived  at  any  other  conclusion 
"unless  prepared  to  set  aside  the  Fifteenth  Amendment";  while 
the  Richmond  News  Leader  (Dem.),  after  admitting  that  the 
decision  "may  be  a  temporary  embarrassment,"  adds : 

"It  will  certainly  be  a  permanent  benefit  in  that  it  shows  the 
line  a  State  may  follow  in  restricting  its  franchise.  The  future 
of  the  ballot  in  the  South  is  made  plainer." 

Says  another  Richmond  paper,  The  Times-Despatch  (Dem.)  : 

"The  clause,  in  the  main,  was  a  concession  to  the  illiterate 
white  voter,  and  to  that  extent  placed  a  premium  on  ignorance. 
It  may  be  that  Southern  States  will  have  to  abolish  that  premium, 
by  which  outcome  of  the  long  litigation  they  should  not  now  be 
moved  to  special  anguish. 

"The  old-style  'grandfather  clauses'  have  served  their  purpose 
— necessary  in  their  day,  but  no  longer  vital  to  the  South's  pro- 
tection.   It  is  just  as  well  they  are  to  pass." 

The  Baltimore  News  (Ind.)  criticizes  Oklahoma  and  Mary- 
land, "States  in  which  there  is  no  serious  negro-problem,"  for 
"stirring  up  once  more  the  quarrel  over  negro  suffrage  in  the 
South."  Summing  up  in  the  Oklahoma  case,  Chief  Justice  White 
said,  in  part: 

"There  seems  no  escape  from  the  conclusion  that  to  hold 
that  there  was  even  possibility  for  dispute  on  the  subject  would 
be  but  to  declare  that  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  not  only  had 
not  the  self-executing  power  which  it  has  been  recognized  to 
have  from  the  beginning,  but  that  its  provisions  were  wholly 
inoperative  because  susceptible  of  being  rendered  inapplicable 
by  mere  forms  of  expression  embodying  no  exercise  of  judgment 
and  resting  upon  no  discernible  reason  other  than  the  purpose 
to  disregard  the  prohibitions  of  the  Amendment  by  creating 
a  standard  of  voting  which  on  its  face  was  in  substance  but  a 
revitalization  of  the  conditions  which,  when  they  prevailed 
in  the  past,  had  been  destroyed  by  the  self-operative  force  of  the 
Amendment. 

"We  are  unable  to  discover  how,  unless  the  prohibitions  of  the 
Fifteenth  Amendment  were  considered,  the  slightest  reason  was 
afforded  for  basing  the  classification  upon  a  period  of  time  prior 
to  the  Fifteenth  Amendment." 


VISCOUNT   JAMES   BRYCE  ON   THE   UNITED   STATES   CABINET. 

The  Hon.  James  Bryce  says :    that, 

In  the  government  of  the  United   States   there   is   no   such 


190  Constitutional  Government 


thing  as  a  cabinet  in  the  English  sense  of  the  term.  He  calls 
attention  to  the  remarkable  difference  which  exists  between  the 
great  officers  of  state  in  America  and  the  similar  officers  in  the 
free  states  of  Europe." 

There  could  be  no  harm  in  giving  the  members  of  the  cabinet 
seats  of  the  House  or  the  Senate,  and  permitting  them  to  parti- 
cipate in  the  debates  in  Congress  so  that  they  could  give  their 
opinions  direct  in  either  house  on  questions  relating  to  their 
several  departments. 

In  most  constitutional  governments  in  Europe,  if  the  min- 
istry is  in  conflict  with  the  popular  branch  of  the  legislative  de- 
partment it  resigns  and  a  new  ministry  is  chosen,  or  the  house 
dissolves  and  another  election  is  held.  This  enables  the  will  of 
the  people  to  be  carried  out.  It  surely  is  more  expedient  to 
change  the  ministry  than  to  wait  for  a  regular  election  of  a  pres- 
ident who  chooses  his  cabinet,  when  the  new  administration  is 
expected  to  carry  out  the  popular  demand  expressed  by  his  elec- 
tion. 

As  I  have  already  observed,  we  in  Great  Britain,  are  in  reality 
far  more  of  a  democracy  than  you  are.  The  will  of  the  people 
declared  in  an  election  of  the  members  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, is  able  to  act  more  quickly,  more  promptly,  with  a  more 
tremendous  and  compelling  force  in  Britain  than  it  can  be  here. 

I  have  another  and  a  far  brighter  vision  before  my  gaze.  It 
may  be  but  a  vision,  but  I  will  cherish  it.  I  see  one  vast  confed- 
eration, stretching  from  the  frozen  North  in  unbroken  line  to  the 
glowing  South,  and  from  the  wild  billows  of  the  Atlantic  west- 
ward to  the  calmer  waters  of  the  Pacific  main ;  and  I  see  one 
people  and  one  language  and  one  face,  and  one  law  used  over 
all  that  wide  continent,  the  home  of  freedom,  and  a  refuge  for 
the  oppressed  in  every  race  and  in  every  clime. 

He  says :  "The  separation  of  the  legislative  and  executive 
departments  has  been  carried  too  far  by  the  custom  which  does 
not  allow  the  ministers  of  the  president  access  to  the  floors  of 
Congress  to  speak  and  to  be  interrogated  there.  It  is  not  a  part 
of  the  constitution,  and  Congress  has  therefore  the  power  at 
any  time  to  alter  it  if  it  should  think  fit." 

Switzerland,  like  you,  does  not  permit  the  members  of  the  ad- 
ministration, which  there  consists  of  a  body  of  seven  persons 
called  the  Federal  Council,  to  be  elected  to  and  sit  in  either 
house  of  its  federal  legislature;  but  it  permits  them  and  en- 
courages them  to  be  present  in  either  house,  and  when  I  have 
attended  the  debates  of  the  federal  legislature  in  Switzerland, 
I  have  seen  the  members  of  the  Federal  Council,  sometimes  in 
one  house  and  sometimes  in  the  other  interrogating  and  answer- 
ing questions." 


Constitutional  Government  191 


The  Swiss  government,  take  it  all  in  all,  seems  to  be  the  most 
successful  and  one  of  the  most  stable  among  the  democratic 
governments  of  the  world  and  could  not  possibly  work  as  smooth- 
ly and  as  successfully  as  it  does  work,  but  for  this  practice.  The 
plan  of  admitting  cabinet  ministers  to  speak  in  Congress  has  been 
recommended  by  many  of  your  own  statesman,  as  for  instance,  by 
President  Garfield." 

"Any  proposal  for  the  admission  of  cabinet  ministers  to  the 
floor  of  either  House,  to  be  questioned  there  and  to  speak  there, 
well  deserves  to  be  considered  as  a  possible  improvement  in  the 
conduct  of  business  by  Congress.  Our  English  system — what  we 
call  our  cabinet  and  parliamentary  system — is  no  doubt  far  more 
prompt,  in  a  far  more  effective  way  of  bringing  the  will  of  the 
people  to  bear  upon  the  government  than  your  system  here." 

"Congress  cannot  exercise  any  power  not  granted  to  it  by 
express  grant  or  reasonably  implied  from  the  powers  which  are 
granted." — (McClain,  who  refers  to  T.  M.  Cooley,  Constitutional 
Law,  Chapter  VI,  Paragraph  15.) 


BRITISH    SYSTEM    NOT   PRACTICAL    HERE LANE. 

A  press  dispatch  says :  Replying  to  American  exponents  of 
the  British  system  of  giving  cabinet  officers  seats  in  congress, 
Franklin  K.  Lane,  secretary  of  the  interior  department  said  that 
in  his  estimation  the  scheme  was  neither  "practicable  nor  advis- 
able." 

"Speaking  for  myself,"  said  Secretary  Lane,  "I  would  not 
have  the  time  to  use  my  seat  in  congress  if  I  had  one.  Cabinet 
positions  in  America  are  purely  administrative  positions  as  op- 
posed to  those  in  England,  where  the  supervision  of  the  various 
departments  is  mostly  carried  on  by  under-secretaries. 

"As  the  situation  is  now,  we  cabinet  officers  have  all  the  op- 
portunity desired  to  make  clear  our  ideas  and  wishes  to  congress. 
In  the  first  place,  the  recommendations  in  our  annual  reports 
state  our  positions  to  congress  as  clearly  and  forcibly  as  we 
could  state  them  if  we  addressed  the  members  from  the  floor 
of  the  chamber ;  in  the  second  place,  we  have  ample  opportunity  to 
appear  before  the  congressional  committees  and  speak  on  any 
measure  within  our  province. 

"In  addition  to  that,  all  bills  concerning  our  respective  depart- 
ments are  submitted  to  us  as  soon  as  introduced  for  the  purpose 
of  getting  our  opinions  on  them.  During  the  last  session  of  con- 
gress I  wrote  reports  on  3,000  bills  thus  submitted.  You  can 
realize  that  I  would  have  hardly  had  time  to  make  three  thousand 
speeches  for  or.  against  them. 


192  Constitutional  Government 


"Looking  at  the  proposition  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
congressmen  and  senators  themselves,  I  do  not  believe  they 
would  favor  the  plan.  I  believe  that  the  distinction  between  ad- 
ministration and  legislation,  as  now  recognized,  is  what  they 
would  continue  to  favor  and  insist  upon." 


THE  POWER  OF  THE  EXECUTIVE. 

The  President  must  act  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  executive 
department  of  the  government.  He  has  the  initiative,  for  through 
him,  measures  of  importance  are  brought  before  Congress  in 
his  messages,  and  when  the  party  he  represents  is  in  the  major- 
ity in  both  houses  these  bills  are  generally  passed.  He  cannot, 
however,  encroach  upon  the  legislative  or  judicial  branches  of  the 
government  beyond  his  delegated  powers.  The  President  can  be 
impeached  and  removed  from  office  as  provided  for  in  the  con- 
stitution. Under  the  recall,  if  adopted,  the  people  would  have  the 
power  to  remove  the  President  if  he  violated  the  powers  granted 
him  by  the  constitution,  or  for  any  other  good  reason,  and  could 
choose  another  president.  In  this  case,  the  president  should 
be  elected  for  eight  years  instead  of  six  or  four,  and  limited  to 
one  term.  This  would  prevent  a  repetition  of  the  experience 
of  Rome  under  the  consuls  and  France  under  Napoleon  III.,  or 
the  United  States  under  the  administration  of  Andrew  Johnson. 

The  president  is  at  the  head  of  the  military  forces;  he  rep- 
resents the  national  government  in  its  relation  to  foreign  govern- 
ments: he  participates  in  legislation  by  exercising  the  power 
of  approving  or  vetoing  bills  passed  by  Congress  and  he  is  vested 
with  the  power  of  pardon. — (Constitution,  Art.  II.) 

"Going  back  to  the  founders  of  the  constitution,  Jefferson  held 
that  "the  constitution  gave  too  much  power  to  the  president 
and  endangered  the  rights  of  the  states.  Hamilton  considered 
the  constitution  not  sufficiently  strong  and  effective  and  that  it 
should  be  construed  and  administered  in  such  a  manner  as  would 
increase  the  power  of  the  president."  There  existed  much  per- 
sonal antagonism  between  these  two  members  of  Washington's 
cabinet,  but  he  held  a  high  opinion  of  both  men." 


THE  REFERENDUM. 

A.  Lawrence  Lowell  states  in  his  work  on  Governments  of 
Europe,  page  248,  that  "the  Referendum  has  acted  like  oil 
upon  the  troubled  waters  for  the  last  twenty-five  or  thirty 
years  in  Switzerland  and  that  the  course  of  politics  in  the  can- 


Constitutional  Government  193 


tons  has  been  much  smoother  than  it  was  before:  and  although 
this  result  was  by  no  means  always  coincident  with  the  adoption 
of  the  referendum  and  must  be  attributed  to  the  attainment  of 
skill  in  the  art  of  self-government  on  a  large  scale,  it  is  also  due 
in  a  part  to  the  fact  that  the  referendum,  by  putting  an  end  to 
doubts  about  the  real  opinions  of  the  majority  upon  disputed 
questions,  has  removed  at  once  a  mass  of  agitation  and  a  source  of 
discontent." 

McClain,  on  Referendum,  page  10  and  n  says:  "These  meth- 
ods of  securing  or  determining  upon  specific  legislation  have  been 
for  a  long  time  known  and  applied  in  Switzerland  and  recently, 
by  constitutional  provisions  in  South  Dakota  (1898)  and  in 
Oregon  (1902). 

"It  is  still  open  to  discussion,  notwithstanding  the  attempts  to 
introduce  the  initiative  and  referendum,  whether  the  exercise  of 
the  powers  of  government  by  the  people  through  the  electoral 
body  is  not  in  violation  of  the  provision  of  the  federal  constitu- 
tion (Article  IV.,  Section  IV.)  that  each  state  shall  have  a 
republican  form  of  government,  for  it  may  well  be  contended 
that  a  republican  form  of  government  necessarily  involves  the 
exercise  of  the  powers  of  government  by  representative  officers 
and  bodies,  and  the  distribution  of  the  powers  of  the  government 
among  distinct  and  independent  departments." 

"It  may  be  suggested  that  such  a  radical  change  in  our  theory 
of  government  is  of  doubtful  expediency  and  to  be  considered  in 
all  its  bearings  and  with  a  view  to  all  its  possible  consequences 
before  it  should  be  accepted." 

"In  all  the  states  except  Louisiana,  the  common  law  system, 
that  is,  the  English  system  of  law,  is  recognized  as  in  force,  so 
far  as  consistent  with  the  institutions  and  conditions  under  which 
we  live;  while  in  that  state  the  prevailing  system  of  law  is  that 
known  as  the  civil  law,  as  embodied  in  the  code  of  Napoleon, 
which  was  in  force  in  France  at  the  time  the  Louisiana  ter- 
ritory was  acquired  by  the  United  States." — (McClain,  page  253.) 

All  the  laws,  this  code,  and  the  statutes  of  the  different  states, 
and  of  the  federal  government,  should  be  regulated  and  made 
general  and  harmonize  throughout  the  entire  domain  dominated 
by  the  United  States  government. 


THE  CIVIL  CODE  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

The  Swiss  nation,  through  the  means  of  a  referendum,  adopted 
the  principle  of  unification  of  all  cantonal  legal  svstems,  civil 
and  criminal,  in  a  set  of  federal  codes,  enacted  in  1898. 

"Through  more  than  a  decade  the  task  has  been  in  progress, 


194  Constitutional  Government 


drafts  being  prepared  by  experts  and  submitted  from  time  to 
time  for  criticism  to  a  special  commission  and  to  public  opin- 
ion. Early  in  1908,  the  assembly  adopted  an  elaborate  civil  code 
which  in  this  way  had  been  worked  out.  In  January,  1912, 
this  monumental  body  of  law  was  put  in  operation.  By  it  many 
long-established  practices  within  the  individual  cantons  were 
abolished  or  modified;  but  the  humane  and  progressive  char- 
acter of  the  code  won  for  it  such  a  measure  of  public  approval 
that  there  was  not  even  demanded  that  the  instrument  be  sub- 
mitted to  a  referendum." — ("The  Governments  of  Europe,"  by 
Frederic  Austin  Ogg.) 


STABILITY  OF  OUR  CONSTITUTION. 

The  constitution  of  the  United  States  stands  today  a  strong 
and  consistent  charter  of  national  rights  suited  to  the  require- 
ments of  a  great  and  enlightened  representative  government. 

One  prominent  fact  has  been  demonstrated  by  the  civil  war, 
which  is :  that  a  nation  composed  of  a  group  of  states,  held 
together  by  a  constitution  under  a  representative  republican 
form  of  government,  is  able  to  maintain  and  did  maintain  its 
integrity  and  perpetuity,  through  the  greatest  civil  war  known 
to  history.  Abraham  Lincoln  said  in  his  message  to  Con- 
gress, July  4,  1861 :  "This  issue  embraces  more  than  the 
fate  of*  the  United  States.  It  presents  to  the  whole  family  of 
man  the  question,  whether  a  constitutional  republic  or  democ- 
racy,— a  government  of  the  people,  by  the  same  people — can  or 
cannot  maintain  its  territorial  integrity  against  its  own  domestic 
foes.  It  presents  the  question  whether  discontented  individuals, 
too  few  in  number  to  control  the  administration  according  to  or- 
ganic law  in  any  case,  can  always,  upon  the  pretense  made  in 
this  case,  or  any  other  pretense,  or  arbitrarily  without  any  pre- 
tense, break  up  their  government,  and  thus  practically  put  an 
end  to  free  government  unon  the  earth.  It  forces  us  to 
ask:  'Is  there,  in  all  republics,  this  inherent  and  fatal  weak- 
ness? Must  a  government,  of  necessity,  be  too  strong  for 
the  liberties  of  its  own  people,  or  too  weak  to  maintain  its 
own  existence  ?' "  Every  step  taken  by  Lincoln  and  Congress 
was  strictly  constitutional,  including  the  Emancipation  Procla- 
mation as  a  war  measure,  and  the  order  revoking  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  in  the  Vallandigham  and  other  cases.  Also  the 
insistent  denial  of  the  right  of  the  states  to  secede. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  like  William  H.  Seward,  Edwin  M.  Stan- 
ton, Salmon  P.  Chase,  Lyman  Trumbull,  and  many  other  promi- 
nent Unionists,  both  in  and  out  of  office,  desired  to  change  the 


Constitutional  Government  195 


constitution  so  that  it  would  be  consistent  throughout,  and  not 
only  make  the  declarations  contained  in  the  premable  consistent, 
but  to  enforce  the  principles  contained  in  it  practically  by  doing 
away  with  slavery. 

This  was  finally  accomplished  as  a  result  of  the  victory  of 
the  Unionists  over  the  Secessionists,  which  preserved  the  integ- 
rity of  the  Union.  The  Thirteenth,  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth 
Amendments  were  added  to  the  constitution  finally,  and  ratified 
by  a  sufficient  number  of  the  states.  To  accomplish  this,  how- 
ever, cost  the  country  several  billion  dollars  in  money  and  prop- 
erty, and  several  hundred  thousand  lives  of  American  citizens, 
both  North  and  South,  in  a  bloody  and  fratricidal  war. 


Washington's  farewell  address. 

Washington  in  his  farewell  address  urged  the  "perpetuity  of 
the  union  of  the  government,  a  main  pillar  in  the  edifice  of  real 
independence,  the  support  of  tranquility  at  home,  peace  abroad, 
safety,  prosperity  and  liberty."  He  tells  his  own  and  all  future 
generations  living  after  him  under  this  government :  "Interwoven 
as  is  the  love  of  liberty  with  every  ligament  of  your  hearts,  no 
recommendation  of  mine  is  necessary  to  fortify  or  confirm  the 
attachment.  The  unity  of  government,  which  constitutes  you 
one  people,  is  also  now  dear  to  you.  It  is  justly  so;  for  it  is 
a  main  pillar  in  the  real  edifice  of  your  independence — the  sup- 
port of  your  tranquility  at  home,  your  peace  abroad,  of  your 
safety,  of  your  prosperity,  of  that  very  liberty  which  you  so 
much  prize." 

"The  basis  of  our  political  system  is  the  right  of  the  people 
to  make  and  to  alter  their  constitutions  of  government.  But 
the  constitution  which  at  any  time  exists,  until  changed  by  an 
explicit  and  authentic  act  of  the  whole  people,  is  sacredly  oblig- 
atory upon  all.  The  very  idea  of  the  power  and  the  rights  of 
the  people  to  establish  government,  pre-supposes  the  duty  of 
every  individual  to  obey  the  established  government." 

Upon  these  Fundamental  principles,  and  others  not  enu- 
merated, contained  in  the  constitution  as  it  now  exists  with  its 
recent  amendments  rests  this  structure  of  national  independence, 
order  and  grandeur. 

The  three  departments,  then,  of  this  representative  democ- 
racy are,  the  executive,  the  legislative,  and  the  judicial.  The 
first  and  last  are  far  more  limited  than  the  second,  which  is 
given  an  almost  unlimited  power,  being  able  to  control  the 
laws,  institutions,  and  public  policy  of  the  country  in  all  mat- 
ters coming  within  the  range  of  subjects  entrusted  to  its  care. 


196  Constitutional  Government 


The  powers  of  the  executive  are  strictly  marked  and  defined, 
while  the  judicial  powers  are  limited  to  the  administration  of 
private  and  public  justice.  Yet,  although  the  legislative  power 
is  thus  less  limited,  it  is  more  directly  moved  and  governed  by 
the  people,  and  is  continually  changing  in  its  membership.  It 
is  connected  by  strong  ties  to  every  section  of  the  country,  and 
interested  in  every  quarter,  and  therefore  it  is  a  safe  depository 
of  the  aggregate  power  of  the  government." 

Having  considered  some  of  the  grand  principles  which  are 
contained  in  our  constitution,  and  contrasted  them  with  the  prin- 
ciples of  other  governments  less  favorable  to  liberty,  every  one 
must  admit  the  vast  superiority  of  our  representative  democracy, 
or  republic,  as  often  called,  over  a  monarchy,  hereditary  or  elec- 
tive, or  absolute,  or  an  aristocracy,  or  oligarchy,  or  a  mixture 
of  the  three  principle  forms  of  government. 

Of  course  there  are  defects,  for  human  governments  cannot 
yet  be  made  perfect,  but  with  the  recent  amendments  to  our 
constitution  some  of  the  alleged  errors  have  been  eliminated, 
and  we  glory  in  a  government  which  grants  to  aix  equal  rights 
and  privileges;  and  in  our  petitions  to  the  Almighty  Giver  of 
all  bounties,  we  should  pray  that  He  preserve  to  us,  and  to  future 
generations,  a  national  government  blessed  with  such  exalted  and 
beneficial  principles,  until  He  shall  establish  His  perfect  govern- 
ment upon  the  earth ! 


Constitutional  Government  197 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  NATION  AND  THE  STATE. 


In  referring  to  the  early  patriots  who  formed  the  constitu- 
tion, Frederick  Howe  says  in  his  book,  "Privilege  and  Democ- 
racy," that  "America  is  ruled  by  the  political  ideas  of  our  grand- 
fathers. The  Temple  of  Delphi  was  scarcely  more  sacred  to  the 
ancient  Greeks  than  the  Federal  Constitution  is  to  us.  Criticism 
is  almost  sacrilege.  Yet  a  recent  examination  of  the  circum- 
stances surrounding  its  adoption  shows  that  the  federal  consti- 
tution was  not  intended  to  be  a  democratic  instrument.  It  was 
not  designed  that  the  people  should  rule." 

"The  reactionary  spirits  who  had  taken  part  in  the  revolution 
obtained  control  of  the  constitutional  convention  and  impressed 
their  will  upon  that  body;  and,  as  later  interpreted  by  the 
courts,  the  constitution  has  become  even  more  reactionary  than 
its  language  imports  or  its  makers  designed.  It  was  this  ven- 
eration for  perpetrated  wrong  that  continued  negro  slavery  far 
into  the  nineteenth  century." 

It  was  undoutedly  this  which  prompted  Article  VIII,  Section 
VIII  in  the  Constitution,  which  says:  "No  person  held  to  serv- 
ice or  labor  in  one  state,  under  the  laws  thereof,  escaping  into 
another,  shall  in  consequence  of  any  law  or  regulation  therein, 
be  discharged  from  such  service  or  labor,  but  shall  be  delivered 
up  on  claim  of  the  party  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  may  be 
due."  This  clause  was  in  direct  conflict  with  the  preamble  of 
the  constitution  which  states  that: 

"We,  the  People  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form  a 
more  perfect  union,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquility, 
provide  for  the  common  defense,  promote  the  general  welfare, 
and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity, 
do  ordain  and  establish  this  constitution  for  the  United  States  of 
America." 

Nothing  could  have  been  more  certain  to  disturb  the  domes- 
tic tranquility  of  the  country  than  Article  VIII,  Section  VIII,  the 
antithesis  of  the  preamble.  Lincoln  was  determined  to  remedy 
this  defect  forever.  He  designed  to  restore  to  the  South  the 
rule  of  the  leading  social  and  political  classes,  and  he  also  divined 
as  they  had  the  undoubted  right  to,  that  they  would  restore  slav- 
ery.    So  he  was  determined  to  have  constitutional  amendments, 


198  Constitutional  Government 


which  would  correct  this  and  abolish  slavery  forever.  His  ad- 
ministration was,  by  its  action,  pledged  and  when  the  amend- 
ment to  abolish  slavery  was  being  considered  in  Congress  and 
two  votes  of  the  requisite  number  of  the  lower  house  were 
needed,  he  showed  his  firm  decision  to  remedy  such  a  defect  in 
the  constitution.  "At  that  critical  juncture,  the  imperious  and 
arbitrary  will  of  Abraham  Lincoln,"  says  Mr.  Whitney,  in  his 
"Life  of  Lincoln,"  page  124,  "was  made  manifest.  "He  was 
bound  that  that  measure  should  be  passed  at  all  hazards,  and  he 
sent  for  two  members  of  Congress,  representing  the  two  divis- 
ions of  political  sentiment,  and  said  to  them  impressively  and 
emphatically,  'I  am  President  of  the  United  States  and  possessed 
of  great  power,  and  that  measure  must  pass/  and  it  was  done." 

The  undemocratic,  tyrannical,  and  despotic  clause  above  re- 
ferred to  in  a  constitution  drawn  for  a  republic  claiming  to  se- 
cure the  blessings  of  liberty,  was  finally  superseded  by  the  Thir- 
teenth Amendment,  which  says  that:  "neither  slavery  nor 
involuntary  servitude,  except  as  a  punishment  for  crime  whereof 
a  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted,  shall  exist  within  the 
United  States,  or  any  place  subject  to  their  jurisdiction." 


LIMITATIONS  OF"  THE  POWERS  OF  THE  FEDERAL  GOVERNMENT. 

The  result  of  the  limitation  of  powers  granted  the  United 
States  government  is,  that  it  is  in  a  great  measure  prevented 
from  exercising  jurisdiction  over  many  sections  of  the  country 
except  under  limited  power.  The  great  territories  obtained 
from  Mexico  and  through  the  Louisiana  purchase  were  divided 
into  states  and  then  handed  over  to  independent  state  govern- 
ments. The  United  States  afterwards,  as  nominally  a  sovereign 
nation,  surrendered  in  a  measure  its  control  over  these  states. 
The  result  has  been  that  in  the  states  of  the  South,  West  and 
Northwest,  there  are  large  sections  of  country  entirely  out  of 
the  direct  control  of  any  well-organized  local  government,  for 
some  of  these  districts  are  not  capable  of  organizing  a  govern- 
ment with  their  scattered  population  competent  to  govern  as 
well  as  the  more  mature  and  well-regulated  federal  government, 
or  older  states. 

The  state  passes  its  authority  in  many  cases  over  to  counties 
and  towns,  some  of  which  do  not  contain  citizens  capable  of 
running  a  good  local  government.  Therefore,  some  of  these 
districts  are  often  neglected  and  have  inefficient  educational 
facilities  or  insufficient  police  protection.  "The  police  power  lies 
within  the  great  body  of  powers  reserved  to  the  states  and  not 


Constitutional  Government  199 


conferred  upon  tfre  federal  government."  Therefore,  the  federal 
government  cannot  interfere. 

Great  mining  companies  and  railroad  corporations,  occupying 
or  traversing  these  outlying  districts,  sometimes  override  all 
opposition  or  by  corrupting  local  officials,  assume  a  dictatorial 
power  and  govern  the  locality  to  suit  themselves. 

In  case  of  riots,  strikes,  the  unlawful  authority  exercised  by 
large  mine-owners  in  isolated  districts,  or  the  unlawful  com- 
binations of  employees,  where  the  state  or  county  offi- 
cials do  not  or  cannot  maintain  order  expeditiously  and  efficiently, 
then  this  anarchy  and  usurpation  of  authority  should  be  regu- 
lated by  the  federal  government  immediately  and  directly,  re- 
gardless of  state  rights. 

The  people  of  a  city,  a  town,  a  county,  or  a  state  in  outlying 
districts  such  as  the  Cumberland,  the  Blue  Ridge  and  other 
sparsely  inhabited  mountainous  regions  or  vast  tracts  of  sparsely 
occupied  country  in  the  far  West  or  South,  if  not  protected  suffi- 
ciently by  the  local  government,  should  be  given  all  necessary 
relief  at  once  by  the  central  government.  All  barriers  of  state 
rights,  which  would  ordinarily  interfere  with  the  action  of  the 
federal  government  in  such  a  case  should  be  removed  through 
a  constitutional  amendment,  covering  such  cases.  This  power, 
however,  is  not  granted  now  to  the  general  government  under 
the  constitution  except  in  a  limited  degree,  but  retained  by  the 
states.  Consequently  if  anyone  of  the  states  or  counties  falls  into 
the  hands  of  corrupt  or  inefficient  officials,  the  people  have  no 
immediate  remedy. 

Vast  tracts  of  rich  alluvial  lands  were  given  to  the  state  of 
Louisiana  by  the  government  for  educational  purposes,  which 
were  recklessly  given  away  for  a  mere  trifle,  some  at  twelve  and 
one-half  cents  per  acre,  instead  of  being  retained  by  the  state, 
and  sold  at  a  fair  price,  or  reclaimed,  thus  obtaining  a  large 
fund,  which  could  be  used  for  the  education  and  betterment  of 
the  entire  people  in  the  state  or  given  partly  to  liberated  negroes. 


MORMONISM   GETS  A  JOLT  AT  CAPITAL. 

Mormonism  was  denounced  at  Indianapolis  as  a  peril  to  the 
nation.  Senator  Frank  J.  Cannon  of  Utah  addressed  an  audi- 
ence in  the  Meridian  street  M.  E.  church  as  a  part  of  the  national 
movement  directed  against  the  Mormon  church.  Cannon,  who 
is  himself  a  Mormon,  declared  that  "if  the  United  States  does 
not  do  something  to  the  Mormon  kingdom,  then  the  Mormon 
kingdom  is  going  to  do  something  to  the  United  States." 

The  polygamous  life  of  the  Mormons  drew  a  bitter  denuncia- 


200  Constitutional  Government 


tion  from  Senator  Cannon.  He  said  it  was  the  basis  of  their  re- 
ligion. 

He  said  that  the  Mormons  were  dealing  in  "big  business"  and 
that  their  political  power  was  the  greatest  menace  to  the  nation. 
"Fifty-two  years  ago  Abraham  Lincoln  tried  to  break  the  grow- 
ing power  of  the  Mormon  church,  but  he  died  before  much  had 
been  accomplished.    Today  the  Mormons  are  ten  times  stronger." 

He  said  the  nation  did  not  attack  religious  liberty  but  desired 
the  church  to  live  up  to  the  treaty  made  between  it  and  the  nation. 

When  Utah  was  a  territory  the  federal  government  passed  a 
law  prohibiting  polygamy,  but  now  that  it  is  a  state  the  United 
States  government  loses  its  control. 

The  Mormons  were  isolated  for  years  in  a  vast  territory  where 
they  gained  absolute  control,  and  built  up  a  government  within 
a  shadow  of  a  government  on  American  soil,  entirely  out  of 
harmony  with  our  institutions.  They  transplanted  the  polyg- 
amous practices  of  an  ancient  Asiatic  barbarism  to  the  virgin  soil 
of  the  western  continent.  The  power  thus  accumulated  without 
sufficient  opposition  has  grown  to  gigantic  proportions,  and  now 
stretches  through  many  of  the  western  states,  preventing  those 
states  from  being  occupied  by  those  who  are  in  accord  with  the 
civilization  of  the  eastern  states.  The  United  States  govern- 
ment, as  the  supreme  power  over  the  United  States,  should  have 
a  system  of  control,  which  it  is  denied  by  the  express  terms  of 
the  constitution,  as  well  as  by  the  state  constitutions. 

There  often  come  to  the  front  little  local  despots,  who  forget 
or  defy  any  existing  local  inefficient  government,  and  attempt 
to  rule  over  large  sections  of  country  backed  by  their  hench- 
men. Without  any  restraint  from  any  higher  supreme  govern- 
ment they  dominate  a  wide  domain  without  interference.  This 
is  all  detrimental  to  individual  liberty. 

There  are  instances  where  the  general  government  does  in- 
terfere in  cases  affecting  interstate  commerce;  but  the  limita- 
tions are  too  great  to  enable  it  to  act  in  many  other  cases. 


STATE  AND   NATIONAL  CONTROL. 

McClain,  in  "Constitutional  Law  of  the  United  States," 
states  in  paragraph  19  that:  although,  as  compared  with 
state  government,  the  federal  government  is  one  of  limited 
and  enumerated  powers,  it  does  not  follow  that  it  is  in  any 
way  inferior  or  subordinate  to  a  state  government.  On  the 
other  hand,  its  very  nature  and  the  purpose  for  which  it 
was  created  indicates  that  in  the  exercise  of  the  powers  granted, 
either  expressly  or  by   implication,   it  must  be   supreme.     In 


Constitutional  Government  201 


expounding  Article  6,  paragraph  2  of  the  federal  constitution 
above  quoted,  it  has  been  said:  "If  any  one  proposition  could 
command  the  universal  assent  of  mankind,  we  might  expect 
it  would  be  this:  that  the  government  of  the  Union,  though 
limited  in  its  power,  is  supreme  within  its  sphere  of  action. 
This  would  seem  to  result  necessarily  from  its  nature.  It  is 
a  government  of  all,  its  powers  are  delegated  by  all;  it  repre- 
sents all,  and  acts  for  all.  Though  any  one  state  be  willing 
to  control  its  operation,  no  state  is  willing  to  allow  others  to 
control  it.  The  nation,  on  those  subjects  on  which  it  can  act, 
must  necessarily  bind  its  component  parts."  (Marshall,  Ch.  J., 
in  McCulloch  v.  Maryland,  4  Wheaton,  316,  405).  One  of  the 
functions  of  the  federal  judiciary,  one  department  of  the  federal 
government,  is  to  determine  ultimately  the  construction  of  the 
federal  constitution  with  reference  to  the  powers  of  the  federal 
government.  (T.  M.  Cooley,  Constitutional  Law,  Chapter  VI. 
The  Federalist  Nos.  81-83.  Hamilton  in  Federalist.)  "The 
standard  of  good  behavior  or  the  continuation  in  office  of  the 
judicial  magistracy  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  valuable  of  the 
modern  improvements  in  the  practice  of  government.  In  a 
monarchy,  it  is  an  excellent  barrier  to  the  despotic  prince:  in  a 
republic,  it  is  no  less  an  excellent  barrier  to  the  encroachments 
and  oppression  of  the  legislative  body." 

It  has  been  stated  that:  "The  people  of  this  country  are 
coming  to  the  conclusion  that  in  certain  important  respects, 
the  local  laws  of  the  separate  states  which  were  adequate  for 
the  due  and  just  regulation  and  control  of  the  business  which 
was  transacted,  and  the  activity  which  began  and  ended  within 
the  limits  of  the  several  states,  are  inadequate  for  the  due  and 
just  control  of  the  business  and  activities  which  extend  through- 
out all  the  states,  and  more  power  of  regulation  and  control  is 
gradually  passing  into  the  hands  of  the  national  government." 


CHIEF  FORESTER  HENRY  S.  GRAVES  DRAWS  FAVORABLE  COMPARISON 
BETWEEN  THE  RESULTS  IN  THE  DOMAINS  UNDER  AMERICAN 
JURISDICTION  AND  THOSE   IN   PRUSSIA. 

Henry  S.  Graves,  chief  forester  of  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture, has  recently  made  a  comparison  between  the  forestry 
work  of  the  United  States  and  of  Prussia,  and  the  comparison  is 
not  to  the  discredit  of  the  United  States,  considering  the  newness 
of  the  work  here  and  the  vastness  of  the  field,  in  contrast  with  a 
century  of  well-directed  effort  in  the  relatively  small  field  in 
Prussia. 

"It  must  be  remembered,"  says  Mr.  Graves,  "that  the  Prussian 


202  Constitutional  Government 


forests  have  been  under  an  extensive  forest  administration  for 
more  than  ioo  years.  They  are  gridironed  with  roads  and  trails 
and  fire  lines,  which  have  been  gradually  developed  through  a 
long  series  of  years.  We  are  following  the  same  general  system 
in  this  country  on  a  much  larger  scale,  but  of  course  we  cannot 
hope  to  get  anywhere  near  the  same  efficiency  until  the  country 
is  more  fully  developed. 

"When  we  succeed  in  getting  our  agricultural  land — strips 
scattered  throughout  the  forests — settled  and  a  large  number  of 
people  in  the  forests  utilizing  them,  we  are  not  only  going  to  have 
a  better  utilization  of  agricultural  areas,  but  the  forests  will  also 
be  better  protected." 

Asked  if  there  is  as  much  litter  on  the  ground  in  Prussian  for- 
ests as  there  is  in  the  forests  of  the  United  States,  Mr.  Graves 
replied  in  the  negative. 

In  many  states  forests  of  incalculable  value  have  been  per- 
mitted by  the  local  government  to  be  destroyed  by  forest  fires. 
Private  parties  owning  large  timber  tracts  have  cut  down  the  for- 
ests, leaving  large  barren  surfaces.  These  should  have  been  re- 
planted, the  same  as  is  now  done  by  the  order  of  the  German 
states  in  Germany,  but  the  states  where  they  are  located  here 
have  allowed  these  tracts  to  remain  destitute  of  trees,  and  the 
result  has  been  that  it  has  brought  about  a  scarcity  of  rain,  which 
has  been  disastrous  not  only  to  the  state  where  the  mischief 
originated,  but  to  the  adjoining  states,  which  could  not  interfere. 


MR.  H.  S.  SACKETT,  CONSULTING  TIMBER  ENGINEER,  CHICAGO,  ILL., 
CONTRIBUTES  THE  FOLLOWING  ON  FOREST  TAXATION  IN  THE 
UNITED  STATES,  AND  THE  LAWS. 

Timber  lands  are  taxed  today  under  the  general  property  tax 
in  every  State  and  continental  Territory  of  the  United  States, 
generally  in  exactly  the  same  manner  as  other  kinds  of  wealth. 
In  only  twelve  States  is  any  special  consideration  given  to  timber 
lands  in  the  tax  laws.  (Alabama,  Connecticut,  Iowa,  Maine, 
Massachusetts,  Nebraska,  New  Hampshire,  North  Dakota,  Rhode 
Island,  Vermont,  Washington,  and  Wisconsin.  Four  other  States 
, (Illinois,  Kansas,  Minnesota,  and  Wyoming)  make  provision  for 
bounties  for  timber  planting  and  cultivation,  though  these  boun- 
ties have  no  connection  with  the  taxation  of  the  land  or  trees. 
Two  States,  (Massachusetts  and  Vermont)  included,  however, 
in  the  first  group  mentioned  above,  attempt  to  encourage  the 
planting  and  cultivation  of  trees  by  offering  prizes,  without  any 
reference  to  taxation.  In  all  of  the  other  thirty  States  and  in 
the  two  Territories  timber  lands  receive  no  special  consideration. 


Constitutional  Government  203 


I.      TAX    EXEMPTIONS    AND    REBATES,    AND    BOUNTIES    DEDUCTED 
FROM  TAXES. 

The  twelve  States  where  tax  laws  make  special  reference  to 
timber  lands  attempt  to  encourage  the  planting  and  cultivation 
of  trees  or  the  general  practice  of  forestry  by  certain  concessions 
in  taxation.  These  concessions  take  the  form  of  entire  or  partial 
exemptions  from  taxation,  of  rebates  of  part  of  the  taxes,  or  of 
bounties  to  be  deducted  from  the  taxes.  The  method  usually 
employed  is  that  of  exemption.  The  plan  of  a  rebate  is  used  by 
New  Hampshire;  North  Dakota  uses  bounties,  while  Wisconsin 
uses  both  exemptions  and  bounties.  These  exemptions,  rebates, 
or  bounties  are  granted  to  owners  of  timber  lands  in  considera- 
tion of  the  planting,  cultivating,  growing,  or  protecting  of  trees, 
usually  in  acordance  with  regulations  specified  in  the  statutes, 
or  under  the  direction  of  some  state  officer  or  board.  In  eight 
of  the  States  the  law  applies  only  to  plantations,  and  in  five  States 
the  land  must  not  be  wooded  at  the  time  of  planting  or  growing 
the  trees.  In  one  State — Connecticut — the  exemption  applies 
only  to  land  "not  theretofore  woodland." 

The  commonest  form  of  tax  concession  consists  of  a  complete 
exemption  from  taxes  on  the  land  and  trees  for  a  definite  period 
of  time,  ranging  from  five  to  thirty  years.  The  exemption  be- 
gins either  immediately  after  the  land  has  been  planted  or  set 
aside  for  the  growth  of  trees,  or  after  a  certain  period,  measured 
either  in  years  or  in  the  growth  of  the  trees. 

In  other  States  the  concession  is  by  means  of  a  rebate  of  part 
of  the  taxes  for  a  certain  number  of  years  (New  Hampshire) 
(Pennsylvania's  rebate  laws  have  recently  been  declared  un- 
constitutional) or  by  means  of  a  bounty  of  so  many  dollars  per 
acre  to  be  deducted  annually  from  the  taxes  on  the  land.  (North 
Dakota  and  Wisconsin). 

In  other  States  the  exemption  applies  to  the  value  of  the  trees 
only.     (Nebraska  and  Washington). 

Iowa  grants  partial  exemption  to  forest  and  fruit  tree  reser- 
vations by  an  arbitrary  assessment  of  the  land  at  $i  per  acre. 
(Indiana  formerly  had  a  similar  law,  but  it  has  been  declared 
unconstitutional.)  Iowa  also  exempts  from  assessment  the  value 
of  all  planted  trees. 


II.      BOUNTIES  WITHOUT  REFERENCE  TO  TAXATION. 

In  four  States  the  attempted  encouragement  to  forest  planting 
and  cultivation  is  by  means  of  bounties  having  no  connection 
with  taxation.     Strictly  speaking,  these  laws  do  not  belong  in  a 


204  Constitutional  Government 


study  of  taxation.  However,  since  their  general  purpose  is  the 
same  as  the  tax  laws  described  above,  and  since  they  have  some 
other  points  of  resemblance  to  those  laws,  it  has  seemed  worth 
while  to  mention  them  here  for  the  sake  of  completeness.  In 
only  one  of  these  cases  (Minnesota)  is  a  bounty  actually  offered 
by  the  State.  The  other  three  States  merely  give  permission  to 
the  county  commissioners  to  offer  limited  bounties. 

III.  PRIZES. 

For  the  sake  of  completeness  we  also  mention  the  two  States 
which  provide  by  law  for  the  offering  of  annual  prizes  to  en- 
courage the  planting  and  cultivation  of  trees.  The  competitions 
are  administered  and  the  premiums  granted  through  associations 
devoted  to  agriculture,  etc.,  in  the  State,  and  funds  are  appro- 
priated annually  by  the  State  for  this  purpose.  In  Vermont  the 
laws  applies  to  maplesugar  products. 

IV.  CRITICISM. 

None  of  these  schemes  of  exemptions,  rebates,  bounties,  and 
prizes  has  touched  the  real  problem  of  forest  taxation.  Obvi- 
ously, laws  giving  occasional  small  prizes  for  the  best  examples 
of  tree  plantations,  hedge  fences,  etc.,  can  have  no  far-reaching 
effects  on  the  burdens  of  taxation.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
bounty  laws  of  Illinois,  Kansas,  and  Wyoming,  which  merely 
permit  the  several  counties  to  grant  small  bounties  for  a  few 
years.  The  Minnesota  bounty  law  is  the  only  one  that  has  pro- 
duced any  results.  Up  to  1906,  $440,000  had  been  spent  by  the 
State  for  this  purpose,  as  a  result  of  which  it  is  claimed  that 
some  50,000  acres  have  been  forested.  If  this  result  has  indeed 
been  accomplished  it  has  been  at  a  tremendous  cost.  Evidently 
we  will  not  find  a  solution  to  the  problem  here. 

Something  more  might  perhaps  be  expected  of  these  laws  which 
really  gives  some  abatement  of  the  burden  of  taxation  by  means 
of  exemptions,  rebates,  and  bounties.  Yet  here  also  we  find  that 
practically  no  results  of  importance  have  been  produced.  Massa- 
chusetts has  had  an  exemption  law  in  force  ever  since  1878.  A 
legislative  committee  in  1906  reported  that  this  law  has  been  a 
failure,  as  practically  no  planting  has  been  done  under  it."  One 
of  the  members  of  this  committee  reports  that  he  could  find  only 
16  acres  in  the  State  that  had  been  effected  by  the  law  since 
1878.  With  regard  to  the  rebate  law  of  New  Hampshire,  the 
state  forestry  commission  reports  that  "This  abatement  provi- 
sion, although  three  years  old,  is  not  widely  known  among  land 
owners,  and  has  so  far  been  inoperative."     In  Connecticut,  the 


Constitutional  Government  205 


exemption  law  has  been  similarly  ineffective.  Similar  reports 
come  from  the  other  States  where  these  schemes  have  been  in 
operation  long  enough  to  have  produced  any  results.  The  con- 
clusion that  these  laws  have  produced  no  important  results  is 
confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  all  who  have  investigated  the 
subject. 

This  lack  of  results  may  be  explained  in  part  by  certain  very 
important  defects  in  these  laws.  In  the  first  place,  the  common 
restriction  of  the  tax  abatement  to  plantations,  and  the  further 
restriction  in  many  cases  to  land  other  than  woodland,  in  large 
measure  destroy  the  usefulness  of  the  laws  at  the  very  begin- 
ning. The  real  problem  is  in  connection  with,  not  the  planting 
of  new  forests  on  agricultural  or  other  land,  but  the  protection 
and  preservation  of  our  present  forests. 

Moreover,  the  regulations  regarding  planting,  thinning,  etc., 
are  not  drawn  in  accordance  with  scientific  forestry  principles. 
Often  the  number  of  trees  required  per  acre  is  too  large.  When 
the  planting  is  restricted  to  certain  specified  kinds  of  trees,  the 
list  is  not  always  well  chosen,  valuable  species  being  often  omitted. 
The  proper  thinning  of  the  growing  forest  and  the  most  profitable 
use  of  the  forest  are  often  interfered  with  by  the  requirements 
of  the  statutes. 

Again,  the  burden  of  the  tax  reduction  is  not  provided  for  or 
not  properly  placed.  The  justification  of  the  concession  to  the 
timber  owner  lies  in  the  advantage  to  the  State  in  general.  Yet 
the  particular  locality  in  which  the  land  is  located  is  called  upon 
to  bear  the  whole  or  the  princpal  part  of  the  burden  of  a  dimin- 
ished revenue.  What  the  timber  owner  gains  must  be  made  up 
by  heavier  taxes  on  other  local  property.  This  point  was  evi- 
dently not  considered  at  all  in  framing  these  laws. 

Certain  local  assessors  have  taken  this  matter  into  their  own 
hands,  and  have  adopted  the  custom  of  adding  enough  to  the 
assessment  of  some  other  property  of  the  timber  owner  to  make 
up  for  the  reduced  taxes  on  his  timber  lands.  In  this  way  they 
protect  the  local  revenue,  and  also  defeat  the  whole  purpose  of 
the  law. 

The  actual  financial  consideration  in  these  laws  is  really  not 
very  great.  Generally  the  exemption  is  limited  to  a  rather  short 
period  of  time,  after  which  the  land  and  trees  are  again  subject 
to  the  general  property  tax.  Moreover,  the  abatement  comes  in 
the  years  when  the  trees  are  small  and  when  the  taxes  would 
not  be  very  heavy  anyway.  The  remission  of  taxes  resulting  from 
these  laws  is  small  when  compared  with  the  expense  of  planting 
trees  and  holding  them  to  maturity. 

In  short,  these  laws  are  based  on  no  sound  principles  either 
of  forestry  or  of  finance. 


206  Constitutional  Government 


It  is  not  to  be  inferred  that  the  failure  of  these  laws  to  pro- 
duce important  results  is  wholly  due  to  the  defects  just  described. 
It  is  very  doubtful  whether  any  law  of  this  character,  no  matter 
how  scientifically  drawn  and  administered,  short  of  a  complete 
exemption  of  growing  timber,  can  have  any  great  influence  on 
forests  and  forestry. 

The  effects  of  all  these  laws  on  the  actual  burden  of  timber 
land  taxation  may  be  regarded  as  negligible.  We  accordingly 
return  to  the  statement  with  which  this  chapter  started,  that 
timber  lands  are  taxed  in  the  United  States  with  few  and  unim- 
portant exceptions,  in  exactly  the  same  manner  as  other  wealth 
subject  to  the  general  property  tax. 

The  correct  method  of  taxation  for  timber  lands  is  to  apply 
the  tax  to  them  when  the  timber  is  cut.  The  taxation  of  farm 
lands  annually  is  justified  for  the  land  produces  a  crop  each 
year.  In  the  case  of  timber  lands,  however,  this  is  not  true  and 
it  works  a  serious  hardship  on  the  owner  to  be  compelled  to  pay 
a  tax  each  year,  when  he  only  markets  it  in  80  to  150,  or  200 
years.  The  net  result  of  such  a  condition  is  that  the  timber  land 
owners  are  endeavoring  to  cut  all  their  timber  just  as  quickly  as 
possible,  so  they  can  turn  this  natural  resource  into  money  be- 
fore it  is  eaten  up  with  taxes.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  there  can 
be  no  true  conservation  of  timber  in  the  United  States  until  there 
is  a  radical  change  in  the  method  of  taxing  it. 

The  federal  government  should  assume  responsibility  for  the 
privately  owned  timber  as  well  as  that  publically  owned  and 
should  enact  legislation  putting  all  of  the  timber  in  various  states 
on  this  same  equal  basis. 


CONSERVATION    APPLIED   TO   CHILDREN,   THE  DUTY   OP   THE   STATE. 

A  change  in  the  constitution  was  necessary  to  eradicate  slavery 
from  the  Southern  states.  It  may  become  necessary  to  have  an- 
other amendment  to  abolish  white  slavery  in  factories,  mines  and 
department  stores  where  the  children  of  citizens  of  the  republic 
are  being  reduced  to  absolute  servitude  instead  of  being  pro- 
tected, educated  and  fitted  to  take  part  in  the  maintenance  and 
strengthening  of  the  government  which  now  refuses  to  protect 
them.  The  federal  government  has  charged  the  states  to  do  this, 
but  as  the  states  have  refused,  or  neglected  to  carry  out  their 
obligations,  the  federal  government  should  intervene  and  obtain 
the  constitutional  right  of  protection  over  defenseless  children 
of  the  republic. 

It  is  stated  "two  million  children  who  should  be  at  school  and 
at  play  are  compelled  to  work  in  canneries,  mines  and  factories, 


Constitutional  Government  207 


two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  are  being  starved  or  their  vi- 
tality is  being  lowered  by  their  adulteration  of  foods.  There 
are  more  inmates  of  our  insane  asylums  than  of  all  our  colleges 
and  universities, — that  is,  we  are  destroying  minds  faster  than  we 
are  giving  higher  education." 

"In  New  York  we  have  twenty  thousand  defective  children, 
largely  the  direct  result  of  the  overwork  and  overstrain  to  which 
their  mothers  are  subjected  in  factories.  Conditions  are  worse 
here  than  in  any  other  country  of  the  world/' 

While  all  this  injustice  is  being  perpetrated  in  the  states,  the 
general  government  has  not,  nor  cannot  act.  An  expensive,  ex- 
travagant government  has  been  engaged  in  promoting  the  inter- 
ests of  what  is  called  "big  business"  and  straining  every  power  it 
has  to  protect  multimillionaires  in  their  fight  for  millions,  while 
the  defenseless  poor  have  been  forgotten  and  have  become  the 
slaves  of  these  barons  of  commerce. 


CHILD    CONSERVATION. 

In  1840,  a  Parliamentary  Commission  in  England  made  public 
the  horrible  conditions  of  women  and  children  in  the  coal  mines ; 
stunted,  crippled,  misshapen  wretches,  living  in  brutal  indecency; 
and  a  law  at  once  was  passed  which  forbade  underground  labor 
by  women  and  children.  Thus  the  principles  of  factory  legislation 
were  soon  extended  to  almost  all  other  lines  of  manufacturers. 
Of  the  long  series  of  later  acts  the  most  important  is  Asquith's 
Factory  Act  of  1895,  which  along  with  the  other  wholesome  pro- 
visions, prohibits  the  employment  of  any  child  labor  under  elev- 
en years  of  age.  See  Chenyney's  Industrial  and  Social  history 
pages  257-260. 

The  conservation  of  birds,  fish  and  animal  life  is  now  be- 
coming the  subject  of  state  legislation  and  the  National  Congress. 
Mrs.  Russell  Sage  recently  purchased  70,000  acres  of  suitable 
land  on  the  Gulf  Coast  of  Louisiana  for  a  bird  preserve  under 
control  of  the  state.  Fifty-three  reservations  have  already  been 
set  aside  by  the  Government  for  the  protection  of  birds. 

It  is  equally  important  to  provide  infant  preserves.  Why 
should  not  the  same  interest  be  extended  to  the  protection  of  in- 
fant life,  and  immature  and  often  helpless  infants,  born  into  the 
world  unprovided  for,  who  may  with  proper  care  and  nourish- 
ment become  useful  and  happy  citizens,  with  families  of  their 
own?  Why  should  the  infant,  the  growing  girl  and  maturing 
woman,  be  left  in  many  ways  unprotected  by  the  state,  when  in 
many  cases  they  are  liable  to  have  insufficient  care,  and  become 
deteriorated  through  poverty,  or  the  need  of  healthy  environ- 


208  Constitutional  Government 


ment,  pecuniary  assistance,  or  proper  or  remunerative  employ- 
ment? They  are  surrounded  also  by  those  who  are  ever  ready 
to  betray  and  destroy  them  body  and  soul,  when  permitted  to  do 
so. 

Jesus  Christ  said:  "Whoso  shall  offend  one  of  these  little 
ones,  which  believe  in  me,  it  were  better  for  him  that  a  millstone 
were  hanged  about  his  neck,  and  that  he  were  drowned  in  the 
depths  of  the  sea." 

If  animal  or  bird  life  was  left  entirely  unprotected,  to  be  stunt- 
ed in  its  natural  growth,  or  rendered  diseased,  or  prematurely 
eradicated  through  some  dangerous  reptile,  means  would  be 
taken  without  delay  to  eliminate  this  hostile  enemy.  How  much 
more  necessary  is  it  to  provide  needful  protection  for  human 
infants  in  their  development,  especially  those  capable — if  prop- 
erly cared  for — of  becoming  mothers  of  the  human  race? 

It  is  clearly  the  duty  of  the  state  to  guard  and  nourish  such 
human  life  in  its  immaturity  and  helplessness,  when  found  un- 
protected and  liable  to  injury.  The  state  should  provide  the 
means  not  only  to  educate  but,  if  it  is  necessary,  to  feed,  clothe, 
and  house  these  children,  until  they  are  fully  qualified  to  perform 
some  remunerative  occupation,  if  no  other  means  can  be  pro- 
vided. Substantial  aid  undoubtedly  would  be  furnished  also  by 
charitable  and  church  institutions. 

A  commission  of  competent  and  well  known  ladies  should  be 
appointed  by  the  Governor,  with  members  residing  in  different 
cities  of  the  state,  whose  duty  it  would  be  to  personally  register 
these  unprotected  girls,  look  after  their  welfare  and  safety,  con- 
tract for  their  services — when  under  age — in  stores,  factories, 
offices  and  homes,  and  keep  a  record  of  their  movements  for  ref- 
ence  at  all  times.  Large  farms,  near  large  cities,  should  be 
maintained  in  attractive  shape,  supplying  farm  products,  and 
buildings  to  house,  when  necessary,  unprotected  children  and 
their  mothers — especially  girls  and  infants.  All  infants  born  in 
maternity  hospitals  should  be  under  direct  control  of  this  com- 
mission. Every  means  available  to  make  children  happy  and 
healthy  should  be  provided,  including  playgrounds  and  school- 
ing. When  children  become  able  to  do  some  work,  without  in- 
jury to  themselves,  let  it  be  done  under  the  supervision  of  these 
commissioners.  Lodging  houses  should  be  constructed  by  the 
state  and  run  for  the  benefit  of  the  laboring  girls  and  women, 
who  should  be  carefully  watched  and  guarded.  The  Chicago 
Daily  News  is  making  a  great  step  forward  towards  the  preserva- 
tion of  infant  life  by  maintaining  health  resorts  for  them  in  sum- 
mer  on  the  lake  shore. 

Manufacturers  and  many  business  men  in  the  United  States, 
who  employ  female  help  in  large  numbers,  are  and  have  been 


Constitutional  Government  209 


protected  in  their  business  by  Congressional  and  State  legisla- 
tion, and  enabled  to  pay  large  dividends  on  their  stock.  They 
were  once  "infant  industries" ;  now  let  other  "infants"  needing 
assistance  be  protected  by  the  state  and  nation. 

No  opportunity  should  be  left  open,  or  possible,  for  the  im- 
moral elements  in  humanity  to  trespass  upon  the  happiness, 
liberty  and  life  of  wives,  daughters,  or  mothers  of  American 
citizens.  It  is  far  better  for  the  state  to  spend  the  money,  with 
the  aid  it  can  obtain  outside  from  charitable  individuals,  churches 
and  associations,  than  turn  helpless  humanity  over  without  proper 
protection  to  those  unaccountable  to  the  state.  Those  neglected 
ones  may  later  fill  the  jails  and  asylums.  This  would,  in  a  meas- 
ure, prevent  the  creation  of  a  pauper  element  that  is  so  con- 
spicuous in  European  countries. 

The  age  of  consent  should  be  fixed  by  law  at  eighteen  years — 
the  age  at  which  a  girl  is  now  legally  qualified  to  contract  on  her 
own  account  in  some  states. 

During  the  period  between  1885  and  1898,  a  majority  of  the 
states  of  the  Union  raised  the  legal  limit  of  girl  protection.  By 
1904,  twelve  states  had  fixed  the  age  of  consent  at  eighteen  years, 
the  same  as  for  free  marriage  choice.  One  state  had  fixed  the 
period  at  seventeen  years,  and  twenty-two  states  at  sixteen  years. 
Two  placed  fifteen  years  in  their  statutes,  thirteen  states  four- 
teen years,  two  states  still  retained  twelve  years,  and  one  state 
still  fixed  ten  years  as  the  period  when  a  little  girl  could  legally 
enroll  herself  in  the  immoral  class  "by  her  own  free  will." 

The  Middle  Western  States  led  in  the  radical  change  of  rais- 
ing the  age  of  consent  to  eighteen  years,  and  it  is  noticeable  that 
the  states  in  which  women  have  suffrage  became  most  prominent 
in  this  matter  of  child  protection. 

As  an  economic  question,  it  is  a  serious  loss  to  the  state  to 
permit  the  destruction  or  demoralization  of  many  thousand  girls 
and  women,  who  could,  by  proper  protection,  be  saved  to 
strengthen  the  community.  One  hundred  thousand  well  cared 
for  and  honest  women  saved  when  young  and  legally  married — 
if  even  half  of  whom  became  mothers — would  add  many  thou- 
sands to  the  population.  These  could  accomplish  much  good 
and  add  to  the  strength  of  the  state.  This  is  why  the  state,  even 
from  an  economic  standpoint,  should  take  an  active  part  in  sav- 
ing girls  and  women  who  otherwise  would  swell  the  destructive 
elements  in  the  population. 

All  this  misrule  and  anarchy  is  brought  about,  in  a  certain 
degree,  through  technical  questions  regarding  state  and  federal 
constitutions.  The  great  offenders  go  free  in  the  absence  of 
control  by  a  supreme  power,  such  as  the  Parliament  in  England, 
which  dominates  the  entire  British  possessions. 


210  Constitutional  Government 


However,  between  the  state  constitutions  and  the  federal 
constitution,  the  state  laws  and  the  laws  of  Congress,  with  the 
intricate  system  of  state  and  federal  courts,  and  the  constitu- 
tionality or  unconstitutionality  of  the  multitude  of  laws,  the  in- 
dividual citizen  groping  his  way  through  this  labyrinth  of  un- 
certainty seeking  for  speedy  relief,  finds  himself  bewildered  and 
must  employ  legal-  talent  to  extricate  him.  Marriages  and 
divorces,  the  transfer  of  property,  assessments  and  collection  of 
taxes  in  the  different  states,  and  many  other  laws  which  vary 
as  the  state  lines  are  crossed,  cause  endless  confusion.  This  will 
continue  until  some  of  the  prejudices  against  a  supreme  general 
government  over  the  entire  United  States  are  overcome,  and  the 
laws  in  different  states  are  harmonized. 

The  United  States  Constitution  now  guarantees  to  every  state 
in  the  Union  a  republican  form  of  government  and  it  shall  pro- 
tect each  of  them  against  invasion,  on  application  of  the  Leg- 
islature, or  of  the  Executive  when  the  Legislature  cannot  be 
convened,  against  domestic  violence.  The  people  are  allowed 
to  alter  or  amend  the  constitution  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of 
both  houses  of  Congress,  ratified  by  three-fourths  of  the 
legislatures  of  the  several  states.  Civil  and  religious  lib- 
erty is  proclaimed  with  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press. 
The  several  states  are  equal  among  themselves,  but  all  are  subordi- 
nate to  the  general  government.  No  state  should  be  permitted, 
under  this  equitable  constitution,  to  fall  into  hands  of  a  few 
local  tyrannical  leaders,  who  could  with  impunity  oppress  or  trifle 
with  the  rights  of  citizens  under  the  broad  and  supreme  general 
government,  which  should  be  given  power  to  protect  all  the 
people. 


SENATOR  HOKE  SMITH   KEEPS  CHILD  LABOR  BILL  FROM   SENATE. 


Washington,  March  2,  191 5. — Hoke  Smith,  Senator  from 
Georgia,  chairman  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Education  and 
Labor,  discussing  the  child  labor  bill  recently  passed  by  the  House 
and  favorably  reported  to  the  Senate,  said: 

"There  would  be  at  least  two  days'  debate  on  this  measure  if 
it  were  called  up,  and  that  would  be  simply  impossible  at  this  late 
hour  in  the  session. 

"Why  do  I  oppose  the  bill?"  he  asked. 

"I  oppose  it  because  it  infringes  upon  the  rights  of  the  states 
to  regulate  these  matters  according  to  their  own  views  and  is  a 
matter  in  which  the  federal  government  has  no  concern." 


Constitutional  Government  211 


CHILD   LABOR   BILL   PASSED. 

Congress  passed  the  Keating  Anti-Child  Labor  Bill  and  it  was 
signed  by  the  President  Sept.  I. 

The  measure  prohibits  the  interstate  shipment  of  goods  manu- 
factured where  children  under  fourteen  are  employed,  or  of  mine 
and  quarry  products  produced  where  children  under  sixteen  are 
employed. 

LIMITATION   OF   STATE  CONSTITUTIONS. 

Section  I,  Article  XIV  of  the  Constitution  ordains  that  "all  per- 
sons born  or  naturalized  in  the  United  States,  and  subject  to  the 
jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  of  the 
state  wherein  they  reside.  No  state  shall  make  or  enforce  any 
law  which  shall  abridge  the  privileges  or  immunities  of  citizens 
of  the  United  States;  nor  shall  any  state  deprive  any  person  of 
life,  liberty,  or^ property,  without  due  process  of  law;  nor  deny  to 
any  person  within  its  jurisdiction  the  equal  protection  of  the 
laws."  The  fifteenth  amendment  extends  the  right  of  citizenship 
to  the  colored  people,  and  gives  the  men  the  right  to  vote  when 
of  age.  "The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be 
suspended,  unless  when  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion  the  pub- 
lic safety  shall  require  it."  The  trial  of  all  crimes,  except  in 
cases  of  impeachment,  shall  be  by  jury. 

"No  state  shall  enter  into  any  treaty,  alliance  or  confederation  ; 
grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal;  coin  money;  emit  bills  of 
credit;  make  anything  but  gold  and  silver  coin  a  tender  in  pay- 
ment of  debts;  pass  any  bill  of  attainder,  ex  post  facto  law,  or 
law  impairing  the  obligation  of  contracts,  or  grant  any  title  of 
nobility."  *  *  *  "No  state  shall,  without  the  consent  of 
Congress,  lay  any  duty  of  tonnage,  keep  troops  or  ships  of  war 
in  time  of  peace,  enter  into  any  agreement  or  contract  with  an- 
other state  or  with  a  foreign  power,  or  engage  in  war,  unless 
actually  invaded  or  in  such  imminent  danger  as  will  not  admit 
of  delay."     (§  10,  Article  I.) 

When  the  federal  constitution  was  framed  it  was  assumed  not 
only  that  the  protection  of  the  personal  and  property  rights  of  the 
citizens  of  each  state  would  remain  with  the  states  themselves 
permanently,  but  also  that  as  the  federal  government  was  to  be 
a  government  possessing  only  enumerated  powers.  "No  general 
guarantees  to  individuals  against  the  improper  exercise  of  au- 
thority on  the  part  of  the  federal  government  was  necessary." — 
21,  McClain's  Constitutional  Law  of  the  United  States.) 

It  should  be  the  pride  of  all  loyal  citizens  to  preserve  the 


212  Constitutional  Government 


state  governments  as  a  model  of  excellence  and  compactness 
with  the  lines  firmly  drawn  defining  their  local  privileges.  The 
state  government,  like  the  general  government,  has  its  powers 
distributed  among  several  branches,  and  according  to  the  fun- 
damental principles  of  representation,  each  of  these  branches,  as 
the  legislative,  executive  and  judicial  departments,  becomes  in  its 
respective  sphere  the  immediate  and  equal  representative  of  the 
people. 

"The  state  constitutions  recognize  three  coordinate  depart- 
ments of  government:  the  legislative,  the  executive  and  the 
judicial.  By  these  constitutions  and  in  general  by  all  state 
constitutions  framed  after  the  original  state  constitutions,  the 
governor  as  the  head  of  the  executive  department  is  head  of  the 
state.  He  is  chief  administrative  officer,  charged  in  a  general 
way  with  the  enforcement  of  the  laws ;  he  is  at  the  head  of  the 
military  establishment  of  the  state;  and  he  has  the  pardoning 
power.  He  has  also  some  functions  to  perform  in  connection 
with  the  legislative  department."  (McClain  refers  to  J.  I.  C. 
Hare.  Constitutional  Law,  lecture  10.  James  Bryce's  American 
Commonwealth,  Chapters  V,  VI,  XX,  XXI,  XLI.) 

"The  federal  government,  although  a  government  of  limited 
and  delegated  rather  than  general  powers,  has  such  implied 
powers  as  may  be  necessary  to  the  reasonable  exercise  of  the 
powers  granted." 

"Many  state  constitutions  include  clauses  either  expressly 
reserving  to  the  people  the  ultimate  sovereignty,  and  all  powers 
granted  by  the  constitution  to  the  government,  or  expressly  lim- 
iting the  departments  of  government  to  the  exercise  of  the  pow- 
ers conferred." 

It  was  this  disconnection  of  the  southern  states  from  the  su- 
premacy and  jurisdiction  of  the  central  government,  and  their 
isolation  from  the  direct  influence  of  the  more  progressive 
Eastern  states,  which  led  to  their  enstrangement  from  the  North- 
ern states.  The  local  dictators,  who,  claiming  the  sovereignty 
of  the  states,  which  meant  their  individual  supreme  dictatorship, 
defied  the  central  and  federal  government.  This  demonstrated  „ 
the  fallacy  of  state  rights  as  against  a  supreme  and  central  gov- 
ernment. 

It  was  this  deference  to  the  supposed  sovereignty  of  the  South- 
ern states  which  held  President  Buchanan  back  from  acting 
promptly  in  i860. 


Constitutional  Government  213 


CHAPTER  VII. 


National  Versus  State  Sovereignty. 

From  the  earliest  history  of  the  constitution,  and  before  its 
adoption,  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  have  been  divided 
upon  the  question  as  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  general  govern- 
ment, and  state  sovereignty.  It  was  first  the  Federalists  against 
the  Anti-federalists  or  Republicans;  then  it  was  the  Democratic 
party  under  the  leadership  of  Jefferson,  versus  the  Federalists. 
Then  by  some  strange  freak  of  nomenclature,  the  controversy 
was  continued  between  the  Democratic  party  and  the  present 
Republican  party. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  who  was  the  founder  of  the  Republican 
party,  advocated  the  supremacy  of  the  general  government 
within  its  own  appropriate  sphere,  and  limited  only  as  provided 
for  in  Article  10,  amendment  to  the  constitution,  which  states 
that  "the  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the 
constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  states,  are  reserved  to 
the  states  respectively,  or  to  the  people." 

"The  cantons  of  Switzerland  are  sovereign,  so  far  as  their 
sovereignty  is  not  limited  by  the  federal  constitution,  and  as 
such  they  exercise  all  rights  not  delegated  to  the  federal  power. 
The  two  sovereignties  must  be  coexisting,  and  the  first  question 
is,  how  to  balance  them  against  each  other,  in  such  a  way  as  to 
prevent  any  due  preponderance  of  either.,, 

"The  internal  history  of  Switzerland  clearly  shows  the  ex- 
istence of  a  double  sovereignty  in  the  confederation — the  one 
federal,  and  the  other  cantonal,  and  instances  abound  of  their 
frequent  opposition  to  each  other." — (Sir  Francis  O.  Adams,  on 
the  Swiss  Constitution.) 

The  constitution  of  the  United  States  does  not  admit  of  a 
similar  double  sovereignty.  Abraham  Lincoln  held  that  "acts 
of  violence  within  any  state  or  states  against  the  authority 
of  the  United  States  are  insurrectionary  or  revolutionary,  ac- 
cording to  circumstances.  That  one  of  the  objects  of  forming 
and  establishing  a  constitution  in  1787  was  to  form  a  more 
perfect  union."  This  would  tend  to  indicate  the  superior,  or 
sovereign  power  of  the  national  government,  composed  of  the 
executive,  legislative  and  judicial  departments.     The  latter  has 


214  Constitutional  Government 


the  power  of  construing  the  constitution  and  the  question  of 
sovereignty  where  there  is  a  conflict  as  to  authority. 

The  Democratic  party  advocated  state  rights  as  its  pet  theory, 
following  Jefferson,  who  was  elected  on  the  first  Democratic 
ticket. 

"The  chief  source  of  hostility  against  national  sovereignty," 
as  stated  by  James  Bryce,  "is  the  belief  that  a  strong  central 
government  endangers  both  the  rights  of  the  states  and  the 
liberties  of  the  individual  citizen."  "Consolidation  would  ex- 
tinguish the  state  governments  and  the  local  institutions  they 
protected."  The  southern  states  were  afraid  of  the  overthrow 
of  slavery  and  stood  out  for  state  sovereignty. 

These  theories,  that  obtain  even  since  the  civil  war  regard- 
ing state  rights,  cannot  be  maintained  in  the  United  States  with- 
out sooner  or  later  bringing  the  state  governments  into  collision 
with  the  national  government.  Some  day  the  national  govern- 
ment will  attempt,  with  the  approval  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
to  exercise  some  rights  it  will  claim  to  possess,  but  which  a 
state  or  states  will  deny,  and  the  result  will  be  a  dispute  as  to 
the  assumed  rights  of  the  state.  It  will  then  be  like  two  sover- 
eigns, contending  for  supremacy  over  the  same  territory,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  civil  war. 

It  has  been  stated  that  "no  one  who  properly  understands 
our  form  of  government  doubts  that  each  government  and  de- 
partment thereof,  is  sovereign  in  the  exercise  of  power  belong- 
ing to  it."  Although  each  government  may  have  specified  and 
limited  powers  granted  to  it,  only  one  power,  that  comprised 
within  the  range  of  the  national  government,  is  sovereign  when 
the  two  are  disputing  about  their  supreme  power  in  any  particu- 
lar. Webster  defines  sovereign  as  "superior  to  all  other,  highest, 
predominant,  independent  of  any  other:  sovereign  state,  a  state 
which  administers  its  own  government  and  is  not  dependent 
upon  and  subject  to  another  power:  Sovereignty,  the  exercise 
of,  or  right  to  exercise  supreme  power." 

The  arguments  set  forth  to  prove  that  each  government,  state 
or  national,  is  sovereign  in  the  exercise  of  powers  that  belong 
to  it,  are  fallacious  as  to  the  meaning  intended  to  be  conveyed 
to  the  people,  for  although  they  each  have  specified  powers, 
only  one  can  be  sovereign. 

This  sovereign  power  in  the  United  States  is  vested  in  the 
citizen-voters  of  the  nation.  They  have  delegated  certain  lim- 
ited powers  to  the  national  government,  and  certain  limited 
powers  to  the  state  governments;  and  the  state  and  national 
governments  can  only  exercise  those  limited  powers ;  but  if  there 
is  a  conflict  as  to  which  possesses  the  sovereign  power  in  a  dis- 
puted case,  the  state  must  peacefully  abide  the  decision  of  the 


Constitutional  Government  215 


Supreme  Court,  one  of  the  branches  of  the  national  government. 
Every  intelligent  voter  should  be  able  to  understand  that  fact. 
According  to  this  construction,  when  we  compare  the  powers 
of  the  state  governments  with  the  powers  of  the  national  govern- 
ment, comprising  several  distinct  branches  including  the  judicial, 
they  must  admit  that  the  latter,  having  the  power  through  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court  of  giving  the  final  decision  on 
all  disputed  acts  of  the  legislative  branch  and  the  meaning  of 
all  provisions  of  the  constitution  and  on  all  questions  of  con- 
troversy between  the  states  and  the  nation,  is  the  higher  and 
supreme  law  of  the  land.  Under  this  construction  also  every 
voter,  being  part  of  the  sovereign  power  of  the  nation,  has  a 
right  to  protection  from  one  of  the  different  agencies  which 
he  has  assisted  in  instituting  and  supporting  which  is  capable 
of  rendering  relief,  if  any  rights,  such  as  his  privilege  to  vote, 
his  personal  liberty,  or  his  right  of  free  speech,  are  interfered 
with  by  a  combination  of  individuals,  or  even  by  a  state. 

If  the  word  sovereign  is  to  be  used,  it  cannot  be  appropriated 
by  two  distinct  powers  in  the  land.  It  must  be  stricken  out  be- 
fore the  word  state,  or  before  the  word  nation.  A  portion  of 
our  countrymen  have  elected  to  strike  it  out  before  "state," 
and  leave  it  in  before  the  word  "nation,"  as  it  covers  the  vast 
power  of  the  national  legislature,  and  the  power  granted  the 
Supreme  Court  of  final  decision  on  controverted  points.  An- 
other portion  of  our  citizens,  however,  practically  strike  it  out 
before  "nation"  and  leave  it  in  before  "state."  It  is  an  incon- 
testable fact  that  two  sovereign  powers  cannot  exist  over  the 
same  territory  at  the  same  time.  This  applies  to  America  as 
well  as  to  European  states  or  governments.  Switzerland  has 
tried  it,  but  found  it  unsatisfactory  and  unreasonable. 

No  such  contrary  forces  have  ever  been  maintained  success- 
fully in  any  substantial  government.  They  have  proven  to  be 
very  dangerous  elements  to  contend  with  in  our  government, 
and  in  Switzerland,  when  the  attempt  was  made  to  enforce 
them.  As  the  people  of  every  state  are  represented  in  the  three 
branches  of  the  national  government  without  distinction,  they 
should  fear  no  evil  from  that  government,  if  they  properly  un- 
derstand and  exercise  their  right  under  the  constitution.  It  is 
only  when  they  commit  a  wrong  as  a  state,  or  a  combination  of 
states,  that  they  come  into  collision  with  the  constitution,  the 
same  as  a  man  who  steals  comes  into  collision  with  the  laws  of 
the  state. 

All  the  slave  states  objected  to  relinquishing  the  sovereignty 
of   the   individual    states,   but   nevertheless   ratified   the   consti 
tution.     Lincoln  stated  in  his  first  inaugural  address  that  when 
an  association  of  states  is  made  by  contract  merely,   it  can 


■y 


216  Constitutional  Government 


not  be  unmade  by  less  than  all  parties  thereto,  and  no  state 
can  by  its  own  motion  legally  get  out  of  the  Union;  "that  acts  of 
violence  within  any  state  or  states,  against  the  authority  of  the 
United  States,  are  insurrectionary,  or  revolutionary,  according 
to  circumstances. " 

John  Fiske  states  (In  his  work  entitled,  "The  Critical  Period 
of  American  History,  "1783-1789,"  pp.  343-344),  that  "the  de- 
cisive struggle  was  over  the  question  whether  New  York  could 
ratify  the  constitution  conditionally,  reserving  to  herself  the 
right  to  withdraw  from  the  Union  in  case  the  amendments  upon 
which  she  had  set  her  heart,  should  not  be  adopted.  Upon  this 
point  Hamilton  reinforced  himself  with  the  advice  of  Madison, 
who  had  just  returned  to  New  York.  Could  a  state  once  adopt 
the  constitution  and  then  withdraw  from  the  Union  if  not  satis- 
fied ?  Madison's  reply  was  prompt  and  decisive.  No,  such  a 
thing  could  never  be  done.  A  state  which  had  once  ratified 
was  in  the  federal  bond  forever.  A  constitution  could  not  pro- 
vide for,  nor  contemplate  its  own  overthrow.  There  could  be 
no  such  a  thing  as  a  constitutional  right  of  secession." 

The  constitution  contains  no  provision  for  the  secession  of  a 
state.  It  is  not  a  contract  between  absolutely  sovereign  states 
like  the  confederation  between  the  twenty  cantons  of  Switzer- 
land, was  originally.  A  clause  should  have  been  inserted  at  the 
time,  plainly  stating  that  no  state  could  secede  from  the  Union, 
except  by  the  consent  of  all,  or  two-thirds  of  the  states.  Had 
this  been  done,  it  might  have  held  the  southern  states  in  check. 
But  the  southern  states  would  not  have  ratified  the  constitution 
in  that  shape  probably. 

Had  the  constitution  contained  an  amendment  providing  for 
a  referendum,  the  "slave  question"  could  have  been  submitted 
to  the  people  of  all  states  and  settled  in  that  way  constitutionally. 
'^IW  know  how  earnestly  President  Lincoln  regarded  this  sub- 
ject, on  the  eve  of  the  Civil  War,  read  the  last  clause  of  his 
first  inaugural.  "I  am  loath  to  close.  We  are  not  enemies,  but 
friends.  We  must  not  be  enemies.  -3Pfrough  passion  may  have 
strained,  it  must  not  break  our  bonds  of  affection.  The  mystic 
chords   of  memojr^^strej^di^ 

triot  grave,  to  every  living  heart  and  heartKstone,  "all  over"~this 
broad  land,  will  yet  swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union,  when  again 
touched,  as  surely  they  will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of  our  na- 
ture." 

When  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee  assumed  the  presidency  of  Wash- 
ington College  October  1865,  which  position  he  occupied  until 
October,  1870,  he  said,  "I  think  it. the  duty  of  every  citizen,  in 
the  present  condition  of  the  country,  to  do  all  in  his  power  to 
aid  in  the  restoration  of  peace  and  harmony,  and  in  no  way  to 


Constitutional  Government  217 


oppose  the  policy  of  the  state  or  general  government  directed 
to  that  object." 

To  the  Confederate  Government  of  Virginia,  he  said:  "The 
duty  of  citizens  appears  to  me  too  plain  to  admit  of  doubt.  All 
should  unite  in  honest  effort  to  obliterate  the  effects  of  war,  and 
to  restore  the  blessings  of  peace.  They  should  remain  if  possi- 
ble in  the  country;  promote  harmony  and  good  feeling;  qualify 
themselves  to  vote,  and  elect  to  the  state  and  legislature  wise 
and  patriotic  men,  who  will  devote  their  abilities  to  the  healing 
of  all  dissensions. ,  I  have  invariably  recommended  this  course 
since  the  cessation  of  hostilities  and  have  endeavored  to  practice 
it  myself. 

After  fifty  years  the  veterans  of  the  Blue  and  the  Gray  fra- 
ternized and  meet  in  brotherly  love  and  forgiveness  on  the  his- 
toric battle  ground  of  Gettysburg,  and  Chattanooga — this  is  the 
best  result  of  times  soothing  and  restoring  influence.  We  have 
accomplished  peace  between  the  North  and  the  South.  North- 
ern capital  enterprise  is  used  to  build  up  the  Southern  states  and 
a  new  spirit  of  northern  prosperity  is  gaining  a  sure  foothold 
there.  The  vast  tracts  of  uncultivated  lands  of  Louisiana  and 
Florida  are  being  reclaimed  and  cultivated  by  northern  capital- 
ists. The  prejudice  of  Southerners  against  the  old  time  Yankees 
is  an  incident  of  the  past,  and  one  of  the  most  honored  and 
loved  heroes  of  the  common  country  is  Abraham  Lincoln. 


SECESSION   A   NEW  ENGLAND  DOCTRINE. 

"John  Quincy  Adams,  a  supporter  of  the  embargo  act  of  1807, 
privately  informed  President  Jefferson  (in  February,  1809) 
that  further  attempts  to  enforce  it  in  the  New  England  states 
would  be  likely  to  drive  them  to  secession.  Accordingly,  'the 
embargo  was  repealed  and  the  non-intercourse  act  substituted 
for  it.  Secession  is  not  exclusively  a  New  England  doctrine. 
When  the  constitution  was  adopted  by  the  vote  of  states  in 
popular  conventions,  it  is  safe  to  say  there  was  not  a  man  in 
the  country  from  Washington  and  Hamilton  on  the  one  side  to 
George  Clinton  and  George  Mason  on  the  other,  who  regarded 
the  new  system  as  anything  but  an  experiment,  entered  into  by 
the  states,  and  from  which  each  and  every  state  had  the  right  to 
withdraw,  a  right  which  was  very  likely  to  be  exercised." — (See 
"American  State  Documents  and  Federal  Relations,"  page  21, 
and  Henry  Cabott  Lodge's  "Webster,"  page  176.) 

"In  discussing  the  bill  for  the  admission  of  Louisiana  in  181 1, 
Josiah  Quincy  said:  'Why  sir,  I  have  already  heard  of  six 
states,  and  some  say  that  there  will  be  at  no  great  distance  more. 


218  Constitutional  Government 


I  have  also  heard  that  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  will  be  far  to  the 
east  of  the  contemplated  empire.  *  *  *  It  is  impossible  that 
such  a  power  could  be  granted.  It  was  not  for  these  men  that 
our  fathers  fought,  it  was  not  for  them  this  constitution  was 
adopted.  You  have  no  authority  to  throw  the  rights  and  liber- 
ties and  property  of  this  people  into  hotchpot  with  the  wild 
men  on  the  Missouri,  or  with  the  mixed,  though  more  respectable 
race  of  Anglo-Hispano-Americans  who  bask  on  the  sands  in  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  *  *  *  I  am  compelled  to  declare 
it  as  my  deliberate  opinion  that,  if  this  bill  passes,  the  bonds  of 
the  Union  are  virtually  dissolved;  that  the  states  which  compose 
it  are  free  from  their  moral  obligations;  and  that,  as  it  will  be 
the  right  of  all,  so  it  will  be  the  duty  of  some,  to  prepare  defi- 
nitely for  a  separation — amicably,  if  they  can,  violently,  if  they 
must/  " 

June  15,  1813,  the  Massachusetts  legislature  endorsed  the  posi- 
tion taken  in  this  speech. 

"As  late  as  1844  the  threat  of  secession  came  again  from 
Massachusetts.  Its  legislature  resolved  that  the  commonwealth, 
faithful  to  the  compact  between  the  people  of  the  United  States 
according  to  the  plain  meaning  and  intent  in  which  it  was  under- 
stood by  them,  is  sincerely  anxious  for  its  preservation;  but 
that  it  is  determined,  as  it  doubts  not  other  states  are,  to  submit 
its  undelegated  powers  in  no  body  of  men  on  earth/'  And  that 
"the  project  of  the  annexation  of  Texas,  unless  arrested  at  the 
threshold,  may  tend  to  drive  these  states  into  a  dissolution  of  the 
Union." 

This  was  just  seventeen  years  before  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts  began  to  arm  her  sons  to  put  down  secession  in 
the  South. 


GROWTH  OF  THE  SOUTH. 
1912. 

Since  obtaining  control  of  their  state  governments  the  whites 
in  the  southern  states  have  as  a  rule  increased  appropriations 
for  common  schools  by  at  least  four  hundred  per  cent,  and 
though  paying  themselves  by  far  the  greater  proportion  of  these 
taxes,  they  have  continued  to  divide  revenues  pro  rata  between 
the  white  and  the  colored  schools. 

Industrial  results  have  been  amazing.  The  following  figures, 
taken  from  the  Annual  Blue  Book,  19 11  edition,  of  the  Manu- 
facturers' Record,  Baltimore,  Maryland,  include  West  Virginia 
among  the  reconstructed  states. 


Constitutional  Government  219 


The  population  of  these  states  was,  in  1880,  13,608,703;  in 
1910,  23,613,533. 

Manufacturing  capital,  1880,  $147,156,624.  In  1900  (twenty- 
years  after)  it  was  $1,019,056,200. 

Cotton  crop,  whole  south,  1880,  5,761,252  bales.  In  191 1  it 
was  about  15,000,000. 

Of  this  cotton  crop  southern  mills  took,  in  1880,  321,337  bales, 
and  in  1910,  2,344,343  bales. 

In  1880  the  twelve  reconstructed  states  cut  of  lumber,  board 
measure,  2,981,274,000  feet;  and  in  1909  22,445,000,000  feet. 

Their  output  of  pig  iron  in  1880  was  264,991  long  tons;  in 
1910,  3,048,000  tons.  The  assessed  value  of  taxable  property  in 
1880  was  $2,106,971,271;  in  1910  $6,522,195,139. 

The  negro,  though  the  white  man,  with  his  superior  energy 
and  capacity,  far  outstrips  him,  has  shared  in  this  material  pros- 
perity. His  property  in  these  states  has  been  estimated  as  high 
as  $500,000,000. 

The  north  had  the  army  and  navy,  factories  of  every  descrip- 
tion, and  free  access  to  the  ports  of  the  world. 

The  population  of  the  north  was  22,339,978. 

The  population  of  the  south  was  9,103,332,  of  which  3,653,870 
were  colored.  The  total  white  male  population  of  the  Confed- 
eracy, of  all  ages,  was  2,799,818. 

The  reports  of  the  Adjutant-General  of  the  United  States, 
November  9,  1880,  show  2,859,132  men  mustered  into  the  service 
of  the  United  States  in  1861-65.  General  Marcus  J.  Wright, 
of  the  United  States  War  Record  Office,  in  his  last  estimate  of 
Confederate  enlistments,  places  the  outside  number  at  700,000. 
The  estimate  of  Colonel  Henderson,  of  the  staff  of  the  British 
army,  in  his  "Life  of  Stonewall  Jackson,"  is  900,000.  Colonel 
Thomas  J.  Livermore,  of  Boston,  estimates  the  number  of  Con- 
federates at  about  1,000,000,  and  insists  that  in  the  Adjutant- 
General's  reports  of  the  Union  enlistments  there  are  errors  that 
would  bring  down  the  number  of  Union  soldiers  to  about 
2,000,000.  Colonel  Livermore's  estimates  are  earnestly  combated 
by  Confederate  writers. 

It  has  been  estimated  that  since  the  war  this  country  has  paid 
its  soldiers  over  $5,000,000,000.  The  South  has  paid  of  this 
amount  $1,800,000,000. 


RECONCILIATION. 

The  time  has  now  happily  come  when,  to  use  the  language 
of  Senator  Hoar,  "as  Americans,  we  can,  north  and  south, 
discuss  the  causes  that  brought  about  our  terrible  war,  in  friendly 


220  Constitutional  Government 


and  quiet  spirit,  without  heat,  each  understanding  the  other, 
each  striving  to  help  the  other  as  men  who  are  bearing  a  com- 
mon burden  and  looking  forward  with  a  common  hope." 

"The  country,  it  is  believed,  has  already  reached  the  conclu- 
sions that  the  south  was  absolutely  honest  in  maintaining  the 
right  of  secession  and  absolutely  unswerving  in  its  devotion  to 
its  ideas  of  the  constitution,  and  that  the  north  was  equally 
honest  and  patriotic  in  its  fidelity  to  the  Union." — (Hilliard  A. 
Herbert,  LL.  D.  in  "The  Abolition  Crusade  and  its  Conse- 
quences."   Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  191 2.) 

In  recent  years  a  large  amount  of  Northern  capital  has  been 
invested  in  Louisiana,  Georgia,  Alabama  and  other  Southern 
states.  Some  parts  of  marsh  land  have  been  worked  and  put 
under  cultivation.  Mills  have  been  built  for  lumber  industry 
and  manufacturing  of  different  kinds.  There  is  little  or  no 
hostility  manifested  toward  Northerners  and  the  enterprise  of 
the  North  has  been  gradually  extended. 


Constitutional  Government  221 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


Causes  Which  Led  to  the  Rebellion. 

The  adherence  of  the  southern  states  to  the  old  doctrine 
of  the  anti- federalists  of  state  sovereignty — the  Missouri  Com- 
promise— the  Nullification  Act  of  South  Carolina,  prepared  by 
John  C.  Calhoun,  the  great  apostle  of  State  rights — the  annexa- 
tion of  Texas — the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  passed  1854,  repealing 
the  Missouri  Compromise — the  division  of  the  Democratic  party 
at  the  time  of  the  nomination  of  Democratic  candidates  for  the 
presidency  in  i860 — the  Democratic  opinion  rendered  March, 
1857,  by  Chief-Justice  Taney  "that  negroes,  whether  free  or 
slaves,  were  not  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  that  they 
could  not  become  such  by  any  process  known  to  the  Constitu- 
tion" and  could  be  taken  into  the  territories  the  same  as  any 
other  property — the  capture  of  Harper's  Ferry  by  John  Brown 
in  1859,  and  his  capture  by  Col.  Robert  E.  Lee,  then  officer  in 
U.  S.  Army — Brown's  execution — the  Free  Soil  party  getting 
possession  of  Kansas — the  election  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  the 
opponent  of  slavery  and  of  state  sovereignty,  in  November, 
i860 — the  secession  of  South  Carolina  from  the  Union,  Decem- 
ber 17,  i860,  and  the  subsequent  secession  of  Mississippi,  Flor- 
ida, Alabama,  Georgia,  Louisiana  and  Texas,  which  all  with- 
drew from  the  general  government  by  February  1st,  1861 — the 
formation  of  the  "Confederate  States  of  America,"  on  the  4th  of 
February,  1861,  by  six  Southern  states,  at  Montgomery,  Ala- 
bama, and  election  of  Jefferson  Davis  and  Alexander  H.  Stephens 
as  President  and  Vice-President,  and  organization  of  a  new 
government  on  the  8th  of  the  same  month — the  failure  of  the 
peace  conference,  representing  thirty-one  states,  at  Washington, 
to  effect  anything — and  the  bombardment  and  capture  of  Fort 
Sumter,  April  II,  1861,  by  Gen.  P.  T.  Beauregard,  and  the 
forced  surrender  by  Major  Andreson  of  Sumter  to  the  Southern 
Confederacy — all  combined  to  bring  about  the  fearful  catastro- 
phe of  the  rebellion  against  the  authority  of  the  National  Consti- 
tution, under  which  had  been  conducted  the  affairs  of  govern- 
ment since  Washington's  inauguration,  April  30,  1789. 

The  Republican  party  entered  into  power  under  the 
administration  op  Abraham  Lincoln  at  an  era  more  fraught 
with  peril  than  when  the  colonies  proclaimed  their  independence. 


222  Constitutional  Government 


A  succession  of  events  followed  filled  with  terror,  burned 
into  the  memories  of  those  then  living.  That  party,  with  the  aid 
of  many  patriotic  democrats,  put  down  the  rebellion,  reorganized 
and  reestablished  all  the  seceded  states  and  placed  again  in 
splendid  running  order,  with  its  remodeled  constitution,  this  mag- 
nificent government.  It  must  be  remembered  that  in  1787  the 
Northwestern  Territory  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  by 
Virginia,  New  York,  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  and  that 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan  and  Wisconsin,  were  after- 
ward formed  out  of  this  territory;  that  Louisiana  was  purchased 
of  Napoleon  April  30,  1803,  for  $11,000,000  cash  and  $3,750,000 
assumed  debts  due  from  French  citizens  to  Americans,  making 
$14,750,000,  for  a  territory  of  more  than  1,000,000  square  miles; 
and  that  Alaska,  with  580,000  square  miles,  was  purchased  March 
30,  1867,  for  $7,200,000,  by  the  United  States. 

February  and  March,  1861,  an  amendment  forbidding  the 
constitution  to  be  ever  so  amended  as  to  authorize  congress  to 
interfere  with  the  domestic  institutions,  including  slavery,  was 
passed  in  both  houses  by  a  democratic  majority,  but  never  sub- 
mitted to  the  states,  as  the  Civil  War  broke  out  soon  after.  At 
that  time  the  South  had  a  majority  of  the  members  of  congress. 

Mr.  Lincoln  in  his  message  July  4th,  1861,  said:  "They  (the 
disunionists)  invented  an  ingenious  sophism  which,  if  conceded, 
was  followed  by  perfectly  logical  steps,  through  all  the  incidents 
to  the  complete  destruction  of  the  Union.  The  sophism  itself  is, 
that  any  state  of  the  Union  may,  consistently  with  the  national 
Constitution,  and  therefore  lawfully  and  peacefully,  withdraw 
from  the  Union  without  the  consent  of  the  Union  or  of  any  other 
state.  The  little  disguise  that  the  supposed  right  is  to  be  exer- 
cised only  for  just  cause,  themselves  to  be  the  judges  of  its 
justice,  is  too  thin  to  merit  any  notice." 

He  also  stated  that  "The  express  plighting  of  faith  by  each 
and  all  of  the  original  thirteen  states  in  the  Articles  of  Confed- 
eration two  years  later  that  the  Union  shall  be  perpetual,  is 
most  conclusive.  Having  neither  been  states  either  in  sub- 
stance or  name,  outside  of  the  Union,  whence  this  magical 
omnipotence  of  'State  Rights'  asserting  a  claim  of  power  to 
lawfully  destroy  the  Union  itself?  Much  is  said  about  the 
'Sovereignty5  of  states;  but  the  word  even  is  not  in  the  national 
constitution;  nor  as  is  believed,  in  any  of  the  state  constitu- 
tions. What  is  'Sovereignty'  in  the  political  sense  of  the 
term?  Would  it  be  far  wrong  to  define  it  'a  political  com- 
munity without  a  political  superior?'  Tested  by  this,  no  one  of 
our  states,  except  Texas,  ever  was  a  sovereignty.  These  states 
have  their  status  in  the  Union  and  they  have  no  other  legal 
status.     If  they  seceded  from  this  they  can  only  do  so  against 


Constitutional  Government  223 


the  law  and  by  revolution.  The  Union  and  not  themselves  sepa- 
rately provided  their  independence  and  their  liberty." 

"By  conquest  or  purchase  the  Unions  gave  each  of  them  what- 
ever independence  or  liberty  it  has.  This  relative  matter  of  na- 
tional power  and  state  rights  as  a  principle,  is  no  other  than 
the  principle  of  generality  and  locality." 

In  the  summer  of  1862,  Lincoln  proposed  a  draft  of  the 
Proclamation  of  Emancipation  and  submitted  it  to  a  full  cabinet 
meeting.  It  was  issued  September  22,  1862.  This  could  only  be 
warranted  and  maintained  under  the  constitution  on  the  ground 
of  its  being  a  war  measure,  taken  to  prevent  the  overthrow  of 
the  Constitution  and  the  Union. 

Abraham  Lincoln  and  other  students  of  the  constitution  were 
conscious  of  the  conflicting  elements  contained  in  the  constitution, 
but  were  judicious  enough  to  keep  within  the  strict  limits  of  its 
provisions  (although  they  did  not  fully  endorse  all)  so  as  not  to 
commit  any  unconstitutional  acts ;  but  the  secessionists,  who  were 
never  out  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  constitution,  violated  its  plain 
instructions,  both  in  regard  to  their  assumed  right  to  secede,  and 
their  determination  to  enforce  the  extension  of  slavery  into  the 
territories.  Chief  Justice  Roger  B.  Taney,  in  the  Dred  Scott 
case,  undertook  to  decide  that  slavery  could  be  extended  into  the 
territories.  This  decision  was  a  political  trick  to  help  the  South, 
and  was  not  warranted  by  the  constitution  even  prior  to  the  Thir- 
teenth Amendment.  After  the  war  Andrew  Johnson  had  the 
audacity  to  quote  this  decision  when  the  Fifteenth  Amendment 
was  being  discussed  in  Congress. 


LINCOLN  LOYAL  TO  CONSTITUTION. 

April  28,  1912,  President  Taft  made  public  a  letter  from  the 
Hon.  Robert  T.  Lincoln,  in  which  Mr.  Lincoln  defined  his  father's 
views  upon  the  constitution,  as  follows : 

"The  government  under  which  my  father  lived  was,  as  it  is 
now,  a  republic,  or  representative  democracy,  checked  by  the 
constitution,  which  can  be  changed  by  the  people,  but  only  when 
acting  by  methods  which  compel  deliberation  and  exclude  so  far 
as  possible  the  effect  of  passionate  and  shortsighted  impulse.  A 
government  in  which  the  checks  of  an  established  constitution  are 
actually  or  practically  omitted — one  in  which  the  people  act  in  a 
mass  directly  on  all  questions  and  not  through  their  chosen  rep- 
resentatives, is  an  unchecked  democracy,  a  form  of  government 
so  full  of  danger,  as  shown  by  history,  that  it  has  ceased  to  exist 
except  in  communities  small  and  concentrated  as  to  space.     A 


224  Constitutional  Government 


New  England  town  meeting  may  be  good,  but  such  a  govern- 
ment in  a  large  city  or  state  would  be  chaos. 

"As  I  understand  it,  the  essence  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  proposals 
is  that  we  shall  adopt  the  latter  form  of  government  in  place  of 
the  existing  form.  This,  in  simple  words,  is  a  proposed  revolu- 
tion, peaceful  perhaps,  but  a  revolution.  In  support  of  these 
revolutionary  doctrines  which,  if  successful,  would  abolish  the 
form  and  spirit  of  our  existing  government,  and  surely,  I  think, 
lead  to  attempted  dictatorships,  resort  is  had  to  what  is  claimed 
to  be  the  words  and  teachings  of  President  Lincoln." 

"President  Lincoln  wrote  many  letters,  made  many  public  ad- 
dresses and  was  the  author  of  many  documents.  I  do  not  know 
of  the  existence  in  any  of  them  of  a  word  of  censure  or  of  com- 
plaint of  our  government  or  of  the  methods  by  which  it  was  car- 
ried on.  He  was  sincerely  and  faithfully  obedient  to  our  Con- 
stitution. In  the  single  act  for  which  he  is  most  remembered — 
the  issuance  of  the  emancipation  proclamation — he  expressly  sup- 
ported it  as  an  act  warranted  by  the  Constitution  upon  military 
necessity. 

"On  one  public  occasion  he  described  the  effect  of  the  counting 
of  slaves  in  congressional  and  electoral  representation.  In  com- 
ment he  said : 

"  'Now  all  this  is  manifestly  unfair;  yet  I  do  not  mention  it  to 
complain  of  it  in  so  far  as  it  is  already  settled.  It  is  in  the  Con- 
stitution and  I  do  not  for  that  cause,  or  any  other  cause,  propose 
to  destroy  or  alter  or  disregard  the  Constitution.  I  stand  to  it 
fairly,  fully  and  firmly.' 

"He  hated  slavery,  but  his  reverence  for  the  Constitution  and 
law  was  such  that  he  said  publicly  again  and  again,  that  if  a  mem- 
ber of  Congress  he  would  faithfully  support  a  fugitive  slave  law. 

"His  attitude  toward  the  Dred  Scott  decision  is  urged  as  in 
support  of  the  pernicious  project  for  the  recall  by  popular  vote 
of  judges  and  of  judicial  decisions.  He  thought  it  an  erroneous 
decision,  but  his  chief  point  in  reference  to  it  was  not  its  error 
but  that  it  indicated  a  scheme,  and  was  part  of  it,  for  the  nation- 
alization of  human  slavery.  He  never  suggested  a  change  in  our 
government  under  which  the  judges  who  made  it  should  be  re- 
called, but  said  that  he  would  resist  it  politically  by  voting,  if  in 
his  power,  for  an  act  prohibiting  slavery  in  United  States  terri- 
tory, and  then  endeavor  to  have  the  act  sustained  in  a  new  pro- 
ceeding by  the  same  court  reversing  itself. 

"Is  there  to  be  found  here,  or  anywhere  else,  support  for  a 
project  to  abolish  the  essential  elements  or  any  elements  of  our 
Constitution?    Yet  he  is  cited  in  support  of  such  action. 

"He  loved  the  government  under  which  he  lived,  and  when  at 
Gettysburg  he  prayed— if  I  may  use  that  word — 'that  a  govern- 


Constitutional  Government  225 


ment  of  the  people,  by  the  people  and  for  the  people  may  not 
perish  from  the  earth/  he  meant  and  could  only  mean  that  gov- 
ernment under  which  he  lived,  a  representative  government  of 
balanced  executive,  legislative  and  judicial  parts,  and  not  some- 
thing entirely  different — an  unchecked  democracy. 

"These  often  quoted  words  of  President  Lincoln  are  now  de- 
liberately altered  and  argument  founded  on  their  altered  form. 

"I  may  be  permitted  to  say  that  I  do  not  think  the  public 
wishes  the  Gettysburg  speech  to  be  rewritten  and  its  words 
changed  by  any  one,  however  distinguished,  for  any  purpose, 
least  of  all  in  order  to  support  a  proposition  that  President  Lin- 
coln could  not  possibly  have  had  in  mind." 


WRIT  OF  HABEAS  CORPUS  SUSPENDED. 

General  G.  Cadwalader  refused  to  obey  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus,  it  is  said,  in  the  case  of  John  Merryman.  On  the  27th 
of  May,  1861,  Merryman  was  arrested  in  Maryland  on  a  charge 
of  treason,  and  confined  in  Fort  McHenry.  Chief  Justice  Taney, 
sitting  alone  on  the  Circuit  Court  bench,  issued  a  writ  of  habeas 
corpus,  to  which  the  military  officer — though  no  public  notice 
of  an  executive  order  had  been  given — replied  that  he  was  au- 
thorized by  the  President  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus 
for  the  public  safety.  Taney,  therefore,  ordered  the  arrest  of 
the  officer,  on  the  ground  that  there  was  no  process  short  of  an 
act  of  congress  which  could  justify  military  detention  of  a 
civilian,  and  that  the  President  had  no  constitutional  authority 
to  suspend  the  habeas  corpus  and,  of  course,  none  to  delegate 
such  suspension. 

The  marshal  was,  however,  by  military  force,  prevented  from 
serving  the  writ,  and  Taney,  with  a  clear  understanding  of  his 
helplessness,  certified  his  decision  to  the  President,  in  order 
that,  as  he  said,  that  officer  might  "perform  his  constitutional 
duty  to  enforce  the  laws,  or  at  least  to  enforce  a  process  of 
this  kind."  The  President  simply  ignored  Taney's  decision,  and 
throughout  the  war  continued  to  hold  suspected  persons  under 
arrest,  at  first  by  his  own  authority,  and  then  under  legislation 
obtained  from  Congress. — (Life  of  Samuel  B.  Chase,  by  Albert 
Bushnell  Hart,  1899.) 


INFLUENCE  OP  OUR  CONSTITUTION. 

Other  writers   have  called  attention  to  the   fact  that  many 
nations  have  been  influenced  by  the  success  and  prosperity  of 


226  Constitutional  Government 


this  country  under  its  representative  form  of  constitutional  gov- 
ernment, and  have  in  a  measure  tried  to  pattern  after  it. 

The  Hon.  James  Bryce  said:  "The  best  testimony  to  the  ex- 
cellence of  your  system  in  speaking  of  the  United  States,  is  to 
be  found  in  the  influence  that  it  has  had  upon  other  countries. 
It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  your  constitution  and  ours  (referring 
to  the  English)  have  been  in  their  general  line  the  patterns  of 
all  other  modern  free  constitutions.  The  British  Constitution 
has  been  taken  as  being  more  or  less  a  model  by  all  the  free 
governments  that  have  been  established  in  Europe  and  the  Brit- 
ish Colonies  since  1815.  Your  constitution  has  been  taken  as 
a  model — imperfect  as  some  of  the  reproductions  have  been — by 
the  republican  governments  that  have  been  established  in  every 
part  of  the  Western  World.  That  is  to  say,  in  South  America 
and  Central  America,  and  it  has  also  had  a  profound  influence 
not  only  on  the  latest  constitution  of  Switzerland,  that  of  1874, 
but  also  upon  the  federal  constitutions  of  Canada,  Australia 
and  South  America. 

"Your  constitution  by  the  example  it  has  set  of  its  working, 
and  by  the  halo  of  fame  which  now  surrounds  it,  has  become 
one  of  the  vital  and  vitalizing  forces  of  the  modern  world.  Let 
us  honor  the  group  of  illustrious  men  who,  meeting  in  Philadel- 
phia, rendered  this  incomparable  and  enduring  service  not  to 
you  only,  but  also  to  all  mankind. 

"The  best  proof  of  the  success  which  attended  the  framing  of 
the  constitution  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  constitution 
which  they  framed  for  a  nation  that  only  a  little  exceeded  three 
million  people  has  been  found  now  to  fit  the  needs  of  ninety- 
three  millions.  It  may  not  fit  those  needs  perfectly,  but  it  is 
extraordinary  that  it  shall  fit  them  at  all." 

"Through  the  principles  of  democracy  and  nationality, 
there  was  created  a  new  Germany,  a  new  Italy,  a  new  French 
Republic,  a  more  democratic  England,  a  constitutional  federal 
Austria-Hungary,  a  group  of  Slavs  in  the  Balkan  peninsula." 
(West's  Modern  History.)  All  these  and  other  small  states  of 
Europe,  not  mentioning  North  and  South  America  and  Australia, 
in  a  great  measure  subsequently  remodeled  their  governments 
after  methods  which  obtained  in  England  and  the  United  States. 

During  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  after  the  revo- 
lution in  France  and  the  execution  of  Louis  Sixteenth,  who  was 
opposed  to  a  constitutional  government,  there  was  a  general  de- 
mand throughout  the  European  states  for  more  liberal  methods 
of  government.  At  the  same  time  however,  there  was  strong 
opposition  among  prominent  rulers  there  against  granting  more 
independence  to  their  states  or  subjects.  Francis  of  Austria 
said:    "The  whole  world  is  foolish  and  wants  constitutions." 


Constitutional  Government  227 


Prince  Metternich  made  it  his  life  work  to  prevent  Prussia  and 
other  German  states  from  introducing  constitutional  govern- 
ments. He  did  all  he  could  to  counteract  the  new  stimulus  of 
freedom  prevailing  among  the  discontented  elements  in  Germany 
and  Austria  caused  by  the  revolution  of  1830  and  the  overthrow 
of  Charles  X.  Emperor  Ferdinand,  who  so  hated  the  very  word 
"constitution"  that  he  is  said  to  have  forbidden  his  physician  to 
employ  it,  was  finally  forced  to  give  one  to  his  whole  monarchy. 

When  the  question  of  a  constitution  came  up  February  3, 
1847,  King  Frederick  William  IV.  of  Prussia  said :  "Never  will 
I  allow  a  written  document  to  come  between  God  in  Heaven  and 
this  land  in  the  character  of  a  second  Providence,  to  govern  us 
with  its  formalities  and  take  the  place  of  ancient  loyalty."  Yet  he 
finally  granted  Prussia  a  constitution,  January  31,  1850.  In  it 
Article  IV.  stated  that  "all  Prussians  are  equal  before  the  law. 
Class  privileges  there  are  none.  Public  offices  subject  to  the  con- 
stitutions imposed  by  law  are  equally  accessible  to  all  who  are 
competent  to  hold  them." 

In  July,  1913,  the  Kaiser  William  II.  burned  the  political  testa- 
ment of  his  ancestor,  Frederick  William  IV.,  and  refused  to  carry 
out  his  autocratic  command  to  overthrow  the  Prussian  con- 
stitution. He  remained  faithful  to  his  royal  oath  and  acted  the 
part  of  a  patriotic  and  honorable  ruler  by  boldly  throwing  his 
ancestor's  document  in  the  fire.  The  present  Kaiser  is  a  much 
wiser  ruler  than  Frederick  William  IV. 

After  the  termination  of  the  civil  war  1861-1865,  and  after 
the  Franco-Prussian  war  1871,  a  United  Germany  was  formed 
under  a  liberal  constitution,  in  some  respects  patterned  after  that 
of  the  United  States  with  the  King,  William  I.  of  Prussia,  as 
President,  under  the  title  of  "German  Emperor."  Baron  Stein, 
who  was  a  trusted  adherent  of  Frederick  the  Great,  once  said, 
"I  have  but  one  fatherland,  which  is  called  Germany.  With  my 
whole  heart  I  am  devoted  to  it,  and  not  to  any  part  of  its  parts." 
He  stood  for  the  union  of  the  German  States,  as  Lincoln  did  for 
the  union  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

Eight  years  later,  after  all  the  civilized  world  had  progressed 
in  the  methods  of  government  and  had  adopted  constitutions, 
Nicholas  II.  issued  his  famous  decree  granting  the  formation  of 
the  National  Duma  and  a  parliamentary  government  to  his  coun- 
try. 


THE  HOLY  ALLIANCE  AND  MONROE  DOCTRINE. 

Monroe  sent  a  message  to  Congress  December,  1823,  explain- 
ing his  policy  of  preventing  foreign  powers  from  getting  a  foot- 


228  Constitutional  Government 


hold  on  American  soil.    This  subsequently  became  known  as  the 
"Monroe  Doctrine,"  first: 

"The  American  continents  were  not  henceforth  to  be  consid- 
ered as  subject  for  future  colonization  by  any  European  power." 

"Second,  That  efforts  to  coerce  the  newly  established  govern- 
ment would  be  regarded  as  proof  of  "an  unfriendly  disposition 
toward  the  United  States." 

This  policy  had  been  endorsed  by  George  Washington,  John 
Quincy  Adams,  and  Jefferson. 

During  John  Quincy  Adams'  administration  a  convention  of  all 
the  American  republics  was  held,  and  Adams  then  took  the  posi- 
tion that  through  such  a  congress  the  influence  of  the  United 
States  would  be  extended  and  the  Monroe  Doctrine  more  firmly 
established. 

President  Wilson  said  in  his  Mobile  speech,  recently:  "it  is 
our  duty  to  make  the  Western  Hemisphere  the  home  of  the  free, 
governed  only  as  the  people  dictate.  We  must  follow  the  course 
of  high  principle,  not  of  expediency,  no  matter  what  the  pres- 
sure." 

President  Cleveland  said  in  1895  in  a  message  to  Congress  that 
the  Monroe  Doctrine  should  be  adhered  to  in  the  settlement  of 
the  boundary  dispute  between  Great  Britain  and  Venezuela,  and 
that  the  former  should  not  be  permitted  to  encroach  upon  the 
territory  of  the  latter.  The  question  was  submitted  to  arbitration 
and  satisfactorily  settled  on  this  basis. 

Sydney  Smith  called  the  Holy  Alliance  "the  Crowned  Con- 
spirators of  Verona."  The  absolute  sovereigns  of  Austria, 
Russia  and  Prussia  signed  a  declaration  that  they  would 
intervene  to  put  down  revolution  against  any  established  gov- 
ernment. Thus  the  principle  of  intervention  was  a  proclama- 
tion that  monarchs  would  support  each  other's  divine  rights 
against  the  people.  It  was  directed  against  the  right  of  any 
people  to  throw  off  despotic  rule  and  to  make  its  government 
for  itself.  England  protested.  The  Holy  Alliance,  started  by 
Alexander  I.,  September,  181 5,  "promises  to  govern  their  re- 
spective peoples  as  'branches  of  one  Christian  nation'  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  precepts  of  justice,  charity  and  peace."  This 
was  signed  by  every  Christian  ruler  on  the  continent  except  the 
Pope.  Its  name  of  Holy  Alliance,  however,  was  applied  to  the 
other  League  which  the  three  monarchial  states,  Austria,  Russia 
and  Prussia,  signed  afterwards. 

The  Holy  Alliance  wished  to  restore  monarchical  control  in 
the  revolted  Spanish  colonies  in  America.  The  United  States 
and  England  objected.  The  Monroe  Doctrine  originated,  1822, 
partly  in  this  action  against  the  Holy  Alliance.     The  United 


Constitutional  Government  229 


States   objected   to   the   extension   of   this   political   system   to 
America. 

In  the  year  of  the  revolution  (1848),  this  system  of  Metter- 
nich's,  an  absolute  monarchical  rule,  through  this  Holy  Alliance, 
or  unholy  alliance,  and  the  suppression  of  constitutional  govern- 
ments in  Europe,  was  overthrown.  There  never  again  was 
a  concert  of  European  powers  formed  in  the  interests  of  des- 
potism. 


PAN-AMERICANISM  AND  THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE. 

In  view  of  the  present  situation  in  Mexico,  with  an  armistice 
agreed  upon  by  the  forces  of  the  United  States  and  the  Huertis- 
tas,  while  the  representatives  of  Argentina,  Brazil  and  Chile 
strive  to  formulate  an  agreement  for  peace  that  will  satisfy  all 
nations  and  factions  involved,  some  review  of  the  progress  of 
Pan-Americanism  is  interesting. 

Few  observers  of  the  present  situation  remember  that  it  was 
the  British  prime  minister,  Canning,  who,  in  conference  with 
United  States  Minister  Rush  in  1822,  gave  the  first  impetus  to 
that  growing  solidarity  of  the  North  and  South  American  re- 
publics which  is  latterly  called  Pan-Americanism,  and  of  which 
the  much  debated  Monroe  Doctrine  has  been  the  bulwark. 

The  "Holy  Alliance"  of  the  Emperors  of  Russia  and  Austria 
and  the  King  of  Prussia  was  contracted  in  181 5  without  the  aid  of 
intervening  ministers  but  by  themselves  as  absolute  sovereigns. 
Their  object  was  primarily  to  rehabilitate  autocracy  with  "jure 
divino,"  and  secondarily  to  prevent  the  rise  of,  and  to  overthrow 
free  governments  and  to  dominate  the  world.  This  is  the  ac- 
count of  it  given  by  Oscar  S.  Strauss  in  his  new  book,  "The 
American  Spirit,"  page  62. 

France  took  a  hand  in  1823,  meddling  with  the  Spanish  con- 
stitution of  the  cortez  and  upholding  the  absolutism  desired  by 
Ferdinand  VII.  But  now  the  British  government  protested,  dis- 
claiming for  itself  and  denying  to  other  powers  the  right  of  re- 
quiring any  change  in  the  internal  institutions  of  an  independent 
state.  Then  the  allied  powers  proposed  to  intervene  in  South 
America  and  Canning  wrote  to  Rush :  "Is  not  the  moment  come 
when  our  governments  might  understand  each  other  as  to  the 
Spanish-American  colonies?"  He  said  that  while  Britain  did 
not  aim  at  possession  of  any  Spanish  colonies  she  "could  not 
view  their  transfer  to  any  other  power  with  indifference." 


230  Constitutional  Government 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  STEP. 

If  any  European  plan  looked  to  a  forcible  entrance  into  any 
Spanish-American  colony,  Britain  and  the  United  States  might 
well  declare  their  "joint  disapprobation  of  such  projects."  He 
wrote  that  there  had  seldom  occurred  in  history  such  an  oppor- 
tunity for  two  friendly  governments  so  easily  to  prevent  such 
extensive  calamities. 

Though  he  concurred  in  the  idea,  President  Monroe  did  not 
adopt  the  proposal  of  a  joint  declaration.  He  maintained  that 
the  public  policy  of  the  United  States,  which  kept  aloof  from  in- 
termingling with  European  affairs,  implied  non-intervention 
by  Europe  in  the  affairs  of  the  west.  The  phrasing  of  the  Mon- 
roe Doctrine  shows  clearly  that  it  was  not  set  forth  in  conse- 
quence of  the  acts  of  the  "Holy  Alliance"  and  in  response  to  the 
advice  of  Britain. 

Mr.  Strauss  says  that  the  Monroe  Doctrine  embodies  the  gold- 
en rule  of  international  relations.  It  is  not  a  producer  of  war 
but  a  harbinger  of  peace.  It  hastened  not  only  the  independence 
of  the  colonies  on  this  hemisphere,  but  it  relieved  Europe  of  the 
absolutism  of  the  "holy  alliance."  Lord  Brougham  said  that 
Monroe's  message  to  Congress  was  an  event  "than  which  none 
has  ever  dispersed  greater  joy,  exultation  and  gratitude  over  all 
the  freedom  of  Europe."  Canning  said,  referring  to  his  share 
of  the  plan,  "I  called  the  new  world  into  existence  to  redress  the 
balance  of  the  old." 

pan-americanism's  growth. 

In  1882  Secretary  Erelinghuysen  told  James  Russell  Lowell 
that  the  doctrine  so  formulated  by  Monroe,  expounded  by  Ad- 
ams and  counseled  by  Jefferson  and  Madison,  would  hardly  be 
controverted  by  Great  Britain,  for  it  was  an  international  doc- 
trine which  she  herself  proposed  to  the  United  States  when  look- 
ing to  her  own  interests  and  which  when  adopted  by  the  United 
States  she  had  highly  approved.  Secretary  Fish  said,  when  a 
settlement  of  affairs  in  Central  America  was  pending,  that  the 
United  States  stands  solemnly  committed  by  repeated  declara- 
tions and  acts  to  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  It  stands  against  any  in- 
crease of  European  power  or  influence  in  the  west.  It  hopefully 
anticipates  the  time  when  European  powers  shall  depart  from 
the  western  continent  and  leave  it  entirely  American. 

On  the  other  hand  the  advance  of  the  Pan-American  idea  has 
been  very  slow.  The  southern  republics  have,  as  a  whole  been 
desirous  neither  of  a  union  among  themselves  nor  of  union  with 


Constitutional  Government  231 


the  United  States.  In  1888  the  United  States  Congress  invited 
the  Pan-American  governments  to  send  delegates  to  a  conference 
at  Washington,  which  was  presided  over  by  James  G.  Blaine  and 
attended  by  every  state  except  San  Domingo.  A  majority  of  the 
members  voted  for  compulsory  arbitration  and  an  international 
American  bank  was  proposed.  The  one  concrete  result  was  that 
the  international  bureau  of  American  Republics  was  established 
at  Washington  to  publish  information  concerning  all  the  Amer- 
ican countries. 

In  1 90 1  the  second  Pan-American  conference  met  in  Mexico 
City  and  arbitration  was  again  the  chief  topic.  The  international 
bureau  was  reorganized  on  a  stronger  basis,  with  the  United 
States  secretary  of  state  as  chairman.  The  third  Pan-American 
conference  was  held  at  Rio  de  Janeiro  in  1906.  Nineteen  states 
were  represented,  all  in  fact  except  Haiti  and  Venezuela.  Elihu 
Root,  United  States  secretary  of  state,  addressed  the  conference. 
The  next  one  was  held  in  Buenos  Aires  in  1910.  It  renamed  the 
bureau  the  bureau  of  Pan-American  Union. 

In  1912,  too,  a  Pan-American  States  Association  was  proposed 
by  business  men  as  purely  a  matter  of  commercial  interest.  It  is 
stated  frankly  to  be  concerned  with  the  personal  interests  of 
each  member.  It  is  hoped  to  bring  about  closer  and  better  rela- 
tions between  North  and  South  American  business  houses,  and 
many  men  of  public  and  financial  responsibility  are  lending  it 
support. — (Christian  Science  Monitor,  May  2,  19 14.) 


THE  NEW  MONROE  DOCTRINE. 

William  I.  Hull,  Ph.  D.,  of  Swarthmore  College,  says  in  his 
book  published  by  G.  P.  Putnam  Sons : 

"The  United  States  must  prepare  itself  for  leadership  along 
this  line  (referring  to  the  present  war  in  Europe)  by  internation- 
alizing the  Monroe  Doctrine"  *  *  *  The  rapid  development 
of  the  Doctrine  by  the  logic  of  recent  events  is  illustrated  by 
various  facts  associated  with  and  apart  from  the  present  war. 
The  emergence  of  a  Japanese  Monroe  Doctrine  for  Asia,  the 
possibility  of  a  German  invasion  of  British  and  French  domin- 
ions in  America,  the  misunderstandings  of  Great  Britain  with 
sundry  American  republics  in  regard  to  neutrality,  and  the  con- 
tinuous performance,  of  'revolutionary'  leaders  in  Mexico, 
Haiti,  and  elsewhere  in  Latin-America,  emphasize  from  different 
an^le^  the  follv  and  t1~e  vrone  of  p  single  nation  attempting  to 
perform  what  is  essentially  a  world  task.  *  *  *  Our  fellow- 
countrymen  of  today  must  'think  internationally;'  that  is.  they 
must  think  not  'continental^'  in  terms  of  the  United  States,  and 


232  Constitutional  Government 


not  only  in  terms  of  all  America,  but  also  in  terms  of  the  entire 
family  of  nations." 


MONROE  doctrine  argued  before  political  science  academy. 

That  the  principle  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  is  just  as  much  alive 
now  as  it  ever  was  and  that  President  Monroe's  declaration  is 
not  an  "obselete  shibboleth,"  was  the  trend  of  discussion  at  the 
annual  meeting  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social 
Science  in  Philadelphia  in  April,  19 15,  which  is  considering  the 
present  international  relations  and  obligations  of  the  United 
States. 

Rear  Admiral  Colby  M.  Chester  urged  a  concert  of  action 
among  the  American  republics  in  a  policy  of  "America  for  the 
Americans/'  which  he  said  was  indorsed  by  Admiral  George 
Dewey. 

John  Barrett,  director  general  of  the  Pan-American  Union,  ad- 
vocated a  "Pan-American  policy,"  in  which  each  one  of  the 
twenty  American  countries  should  have  the  same  independence 
as  the  United  States,  in  order  to  eliminate  any  sense  of  fear  on 
the  part  of  Central  and  South  American  states  as  to  United  States 
aggression. 

A.  Maurice  Low,  of  London,  a  British  journalist,  was  intro- 
duced as  a  speaker  who  would  give  the  European  attitude  toward 
the  Monroe  Doctrine.  Mr.  Low  said  it  would  be  easier  to  ex- 
plain the  attitude  of  Europe  if  Europe  knew  what  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  really  was. 

He  believed  a  nation  that  assumes  protection  over  other  states 
should  also  assume  the  responsibility  of  seeing  that  these  smaller 
countries  carry  out  their  obligations  with  other  nations. 


PRESIDENT   WILSON  S   LATIN-AMERICAN    POLICY. 

Latin-America  was  to  see  an  "emancipation  from  subordina- 
tion which  has  been  inevitable  to  foreign  enterprises,"  and  in 
gaining  that  freedom  it  could  rely  upon  the  disinterested  friend- 
ship of  the  United  States,  and  one  of  the  duties  of  friendship  was 
to  see,  "that  from  no  quarter  are  material  interests  made  supe- 
rior to  human  liberty  and  national  opportunity."  Do  not  think, 
he  warned,  "that  questions  of  the  day  are  mere  questions  of  pol- 
icy and  diplomacy.  They  are  shot  through  with  the  prin- 
ciples of  life.  We  dare  not  turn  from  this  principle,  that 
morality  and  not  expediency  is  the  thing  that  must  guide  us,  and 


Constitutional  Government  233 


that  we  will  never  condone  iniquity  because  it  is  most  convenient 
to  do  so." 

President  Wilson  has  given  us  a  new  interpretation  of  the 
Monroe  Doctrine,  was  the  general  comment  after  the  delivery  of 
his  speech.  He  made  it  plain,  public  men  and  the  Press  agreed, 
that  even  less  to  be  tolerated  than  political  control  was  financial 
mastership.  The  Monroe  Doctrine  recognized  the  danger  of 
European  political  domination  over  the  Americas,  but  modern 
conditions  had  made  financial  ownership  a  greater  menace.  The 
Monroe  Doctrine  was  a  warning  to  Europe  not  to  attempt  col- 
onization, but  it  did  not  specifically  set  forth  the  duties  and  re- 
sponsibilities of  the  United  States.  That  omission  President  Wil- 
son has  supplied.  The  advantages  conferred  upon  the  United 
States  by  the  Monroe  Doctrine  impose  a  moral  obligation.  It  is 
the  duty  of  the  United  States,  not  alone  to  protect  the  political 
entity  of  Latin- America,  but  also  to  preserve  its  financial  inde- 
pendence; to  save  it  from  its  own  weakness;  to  prevent  it  be- 
coming the  victim  of  concessionaires,  whether  they  be  American, 
or  European;  to  enable  Latin-America  to  be  developed  without 
selling  itself  into  bondage;  to  encourage  Latin- America  to  re- 
spect itself  so  that  it  may  have  the  respect  of  the  world. 

That,  in  substance,  is  President  Wilson's  foreign  policy.  It 
means  a  new  era  in  Central  America.  It  means  that  the  prin- 
ciple laid  down  by  Mr.  Wilson  that  a  revolution  is  not  in  itself 
sufficient  to  confer  a  valid  title  to  a  Presidency  will  discourage 
revolution,  and  that  future  American  Presidents  will  be  more 
cautious  in  recognizing  rulers  who  have  substituted  force  for 
constitutional  methods.  It  means  peace  where  now  no  peace  pre- 
vails. It  means,  eventually,  a  contented  and  prosperous  Latin- 
America  in  whose  contentment  and  prosperity  other  nations  will 
share.  Mr.  Wilson  has  placed  the  relations  existing  between 
Latin-America  and  the  rest  of  the  world  on  a  different  basis 
from  those  hitherto  existing  and  more  in  harmony  with  the  en- 
lightened spirit  of  the  age.  He  has  taken  a  long  step  forward. 
Under  his  guidance  civilization  advances. 


WE  MUST   NOT  RETROGRADE. 

After  the  world,  or  what  is  denominated  civilization,  has  pro- 
gressed to  the  height  attained  through  so  much  labor  in  this 
twentieth  century,  it  becomes  every  liberal  government,  especially 
the  United  States  government,  to  hold  what  has  been  gained 
and  not  to  make  any  backward  step. 

A  citizen  of  the  United  States  is  subject  to  the  provisions  of 
the  constitution,  and  national,  state,  and  municipal  laws,  but 


234  Constitutional  Government 


not  to  an  individual  king,  czar,  or  prince,  as  is  the  case  in  many 
other  countries.  He  is  not  born  subordinate  to  any  distinct  class 
of  men  who  happen  to  be  born  in  an  artificially-created,  higher 
political  or  social  zone  in  the  nation.  Each  man  and  woman 
is  a  separate  entity,  independent  by  nature  and  the  laws  of  the 
country.  No  person  has  any  inherited  power  or  control  over 
any  other  individual  except  perhaps  the  control  for  a  limited 
period  by  parents  or  guardians. 

The  constitutions  of  states  and  of  the  national  government, 
together  with  the  laws  of  the  country,  have  been  created  for  the 
protection  of  citizens,  and  they  are  expected  and  will  be  com- 
pelled to  obey  the  provisions  enacted  by  these  laws  and  the  con- 
stitutions, but  no  individual  ruler  inherits  the  right  to  demand 
obedience  to  his  individual  will  outside  of,  and  independent  of, 
these  constitutions  and  laws. 

Abraham  Lincoln  has  practically  solved  the  problem  of  the 
power  and  utility  of  a  written  constitution  adapted  to  a  republic, 
or  to  a  representative  democracy,  and  its  stability  when  assailed 
by  enemies  from  within,  as  was  the  case  in  the  civil  war.  Had 
he  failed  as  the  executive  and  commander-in-chief  of  the  army 
and  navy,  or  had  the  people  failed  to  support  him  with  the 
necessary  resources  and  military  power,  organized  to  meet  emer- 
gencies in  maintaining  the  constitution  in  its  integrity  and  the 
Union  in  its  entirety,  democratic  constitutional  government 
would  have  lost  its  prestige  throughout  the  world.  Now  many 
other  nations  are  following  out  our  system  of  constitutional 
government,  based  as  near  as  possible  on  the  representative  prin- 
ciples, believing  from  our  experience  that  it  is  the  best  form 
of  government  known,  for  a  people  desiring  stability,  freedom 
and  happiness. 

EXTRACT   FROM   A  SPEECH   BY  JAMES  A.   GARFIELD. 

It  is  well  to  know  the  history  of  those  magnificent  nations 
whose  origin  is  lost  in  fable,  and  whose  epitaphs  were  written 
a  thousand  years  ago;  but  if  we  cannot  know  both,  it  is  far 
better  to  study  the  history  of  our  own  nation,  whose  origin  we 
can  trace  to  the  freest  and  noblest  aspirations  of  the  human 
heart — a  nation  that  was  formed  from  the  hardest,  purest  and 
most  enduring  elements  of  European  civilization — a  nation  that 
by  its  faith  and  courage,  has  dared  and  accomplished  more  for 
the  human  race  in  a  single  century  than  Europe  accomplished 
in  the  first  thousand  years  of  the  Christian  era/1 

Some  of  our  would-be  great  statesmen  and  alleged  constitu- 
tional experts  attempt  to  enlighten  the  people  by  affirming  that 
the  constitution,  like  the  "laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians,  should 


Constitutional  Government  235 


not  be  changed;  and  that  if  not  made  now  in  every  detail  for 
the  benefit  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  it  should  not  be 
amended  so  as  to  suit  the  common  people,  so-called,  as  they 
are  not  yet  capable  of  self-government.  These  wise  men  claim 
that  it  was  originally  intended  that  a  superior  or  privileged  class 
only  should  be  permitted  to  dominate,  and  that  no  restrictions 
should  be  removed  which  were  contained  in  the  constitution  as 
handed  down  to  us  by  its  creators. 

They  forget,  however,  that  the  people  possess  the  right  of 
universal  suffrage,  and  that  even  if  not  competent,  as  these  wise 
men  allege,  to  control  the  government,  and  shape  it  to  suit  their 
wishes  by  their  votes,  they  do  and  will  control  the  situation.  And 
who  is  strong  enough  to  deprive  them  of  their  suffrage? 

In  a  letter  written  April  4,  1864,  by  Mr.  Lincoln  to  Mr.  George 
C.  Hodges  of  Frankfort,  Kentucky,  he  said:  "I  felt  that  meas- 
ures otherwise  unconstitutional  might  become  lawful  by  becom- 
ing indispensable  to  the  preservation  of  the  constitution  through 
the  preservation  of  the  nation." 

Each  generation  has  the  power  to  shape  the  constitution  and 
the  laws  of  the  United  States  to  suit  its  immediate,  or  future 
requirements,  and  no  individual  has  the  right  or  possesses  the 
power  to  interfere,  no  matter  how  he  may  regard  the  ability  of 
the  people  to  choose  for  themselves. 


Constitutional  Government  237 


CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Thirteenth  Amendment. 

In  1864  a  joint  resolution  to  prohibit  slavery  in  the  United 
States  was  introduced  into  the  House  by  the  Hon.  James  M.  Ash- 
ley of  Ohio,  and  in  the  Senate  by  Hon.  Charles  Sumner  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  Hon.  J.  H.  Henderson  of  Missouri.  Senator 
Trumbull  of  Illinois  on  the  judiciary  committee,  to  whom  the 
Senate  resolutions  were  referred,  reported  a  substitute  for  the 
amendment,  which  was  passed  in  the  Senate  April,  1864,  but 
failed  to  pass  the  House.  On  the  last  day  of  January,  1865,  the 
House  passed  the  constitutional  amendment  abolishing  slavery 
by  vote  of  119  to  56,  and  on  the  8th  of  February  it  was  passed 
in  the  Senate.  It  was  ratified  first  by  Illinois  and  by  most  of  the 
Northern  states  in  six  months.  Secretary  Seward  announced 
the  final  ratification  of  the  Thirteenth  Amendment,  December 
18th,  1865,  as  follows: 

Thirty-eighth  Congress  of  the  United  States  of  America:  At 
the  Second  Session.  Begun  and  held  at  the  City  of  Washing- 
ton, on  Monday,  the  fifth  day  of  December,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty- four. 

A  Resolution  submitting  to  the  legislatures  of  the  several 
States  a  proposition  to  amend  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States. 

Resolved,  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  (two-thirds 
of  both  houses  concurring)  :  That  the  following  article  be  pro- 
posed to  the  legislatures  of  the  several  States  as  an  Amendment 
to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  which,  when  ratified  by 
three-fourths  of  said  legislatures,  shall  be  valid,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  as  a  part  of  the  said  Constitution,  namely:  Article 
XIII.  Section  1.  Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude, 
except  as  a  punishment  for  crime  whereof  the  party  shall  have 
been  duly  convicted,  shall  exist  within  the  United  States,  or  any 
place  subject  to  their  jurisdiction.  Section  2.  Congress  shall 
have  power  to  enforce  this  article  by  appropriate  legislation. 

Schuyler  Colfax, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

H.  Hamlin, 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States, 
and  President  of  the  Senate. 


238  Constitutional  Government 


Approved  February  i,  1865. — Abraham  Lincoln. 

McClain,  in  his  Constitutional  Law  in  the  United  States,  says : 
"Since  the  abolition  of  slavery  throughout  the  United  States 
and  by  the  adoption  of  the  Thirteenth  Amendment,  this  pro- 
vision has  ceased  to  have  any  practical  value,  though  it  doubtless 
applies  to  apprentices  and  perhaps  might  apply  to  persons  con- 
victed of  crime  in  one  state  and  sentenced  to  labor  as  punishment 
but  who  have  subsequently  escaped  to  another  state :"    Page  270. 


FOURTEENTH   AMENDMENT. 

Thirty-ninth  Congress  of  the  United  States,  at  the  First  ses- 
sion, begun  and  held  at  the  City  of  Washington,  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  on  Monday,  the  fourth  day  of  December,  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  sixty-five. 

Joint  Resolution  proposing  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States : 

Be  it  resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  (two- 
thirds  of  both  Houses  concurring,)  That  the  following  article 
be  proposed  to  the  legislatures  of  the  several  States  as  an  Amend- 
ment to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  which,  when  rati- 
fied by  three- fourths  of  said  legislatures,  shall  be  valid  as  part 
of  the  Constitution,  namely : 

Article  XIV.  Section  1.  All  persons  born  or  naturalized  in 
the  United  States,  and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States  and  of  the  State  wherein  they  reside. 
No  state  shall  make  or  enforce  any  law  which  shall  abridge  the 
privileges  or  immunities  of  citizens  of  the  United  States;  nor 
shall  any  State  deprive  any  person  of  life,  liberty,  or  prop- 
erty, without  due  process  of  law;  nor  deny  to  any  person  within 
its  jurisdiction  the  equal  protection  of  the  laws. 

Section  2.  Representatives  shall  be  apportioned  among  the 
several  states  according  to  their  respective  numbers,  counting 
the  whole  number  of  persons  in  each  State,  excluding  Indians 
not  taxed.  But  when  the  right  to  vote  at  any  election  for  the 
choice  of  electors  for  President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States,  Representatives  in  Congress,  the  executive  and  judicial 
officers  of  a  State,  or  the  members  of  the  legislature  thereof,  is 
denied  to  any  of  the  male  inhabitants  of  such  State,  being  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  and  citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  way 
abridged,  except  for  participation  in  rebellion,  or  other  crime, 
the  basis  of  representation  therein  shall  be  reduced  in  the  pro- 


Constitutional  Government  239 


portion  which  the  number  of  such  male  citizens  shall  bear  to  the 
whole  number  of  male  citizens  twenty-one  years  of  age  in  such 
State. 

Section  3.  No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  or  Representative  in 
Congress,  or  elector  of  President  and  Vice-President,  or  hold 
any  office,  civil  or  military,  under  the  United  States  or  under 
any  State,  who,  having  previously  taken  an  oath  as  a  member 
of  Congress,  or  as  an  officer  of  the  United  States,  or  as  a  mem- 
ber of  any  State  legislature,  or  as  an  executive  or  judicial  officer 
of  any  State,  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
shall  have  engaged  in  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  same, 
or  given  aid  or  comfort  to  the  enemies  thereof.  But  Congress 
may,  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  each  house,  remove  such  disabil- 
ity. 

Section  4.  The  validity  of  the  public  debt  of  the  United  States, 
authorized  by  law,  including  debts  incurred  for  payment  of 
pensions  and  bounties  for  services  in  suppressing  insurrection 
or  rebellion,  shall  not  be  questioned.  But  neither  the  United 
States  nor  any  State  shall  assume  or  pay  any  debt  or  obligation 
incurred  in  aid  of  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  United 
States,  or  any  claim  for  the  loss  or  emancipation  of  any  slave; 
but  all  such  debts,  obligations,  and  claims  shall  be  held  illegal 
and  void. 

Section  5.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce,  by  ap- 
propriate legislation,  the  provisions  of  this  article. 

Schuyler  Colfax, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
La  Fayette  S.  Foster, 
President  of  the  Senate  pro  tempore. 
Attest: 

Edwd.  McPherson, 

Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
J.  W.  Forney, 

Secretary  of  the  Senate.* 

"The  Fourteenth  Amendment  was  adopted  on  account  of  fear 
that  the  negroes  recently  emancipated  from  slavery,  and  who 
prior  to  the  adoption  of  that  amendment  had  not  been  uniformly 
regarded  as  citizens,  would  be  deprived  in  some  of  the  states  of 
their  civil  rights.  But  the  language  of  the  Amendment  goes 
further  than  to  make  the  negroes  citizens,  and  guarantees  to 


♦The  fourteenth  amendment  being  declared  by  a  concurrent  resolu- 
tion of  Congress,  adopted  July  21,  1868,  to  have  been  ratified  by  "three- 
fourths  and  more  of  the  several  States  of  the  Union,"  the  Secretary 
of  State  was  required  duly  to  promulgate  the  text.  He  accordingly 
issued  a  proclamation,  dated  July  28,  1868,  declaring  the  amendment 
to  have  been  ratified  by  thirty  of  the  thirty-six  States. 


240  Constitutional  Government 


them  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  citizenship.  It  is  un- 
limited in  its  scope  and  has  been  so  interpreted." — (Paragraph 
259,  McClain's  Constitution  of  the  United  States). 


THE  FIFTEENTH  AMENDMENT. 

Fortieth  Congress  of  the  United  States  of  America ;  at  the  third 
Session.  Begun  and  held  at  the  city  of  Washington,  on  Mon- 
day, the  seventh  day  of  December,  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  sixty-eight. 

A  Resolution  proposing  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States : 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  (two- 
thirds  of  both  Houses  concurring)  That  the  following  article 
be  proposed  to  the  legislatures  of  the  several  States  as  an  amend- 
ment to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  which,  when  rati- 
fied by  three-fourths  of  said  legislatures  shall  be  valid  as  part 
of  the  Constitution,  namely: 

Article  XV.  Section  1.  The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United 
States  to  vote  shall  not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United 
States,  or  by  any  State  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  con- 
dition of  servitude. 

Section  2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this 
article  by  appropriate  legislation. 

Schuyler  Colfax, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
B.  F.  Wade, 
President  of  the  Senate  pro  tempore. 
Attest: 

Edwd.  McPherson, 

Clerk  of  House  of  Representatives, 
Geo.  C.  Gorham, 

Secy,  of  Senate  U.  S.* 

In  most  of  the  southern  states,  however,  where  slavery  pre- 
viously existed,  the  ne^ro  population  is  now  practically  de- 
prived of  the  right  of  suffrage  given  it  by  the  Fifteenth  Amend- 
ment, notwithstanding  the  provision. 

The  Fifteenth  Amendment  to  the  Constitution,  if  strictly  con- 
strued, might  be  held  to  prevent  the  exclusion  of  the  Japanese 
or  Chinese  from  citizenship  in  the  United  States. 


♦The  fifteenth  amendment  was  declared  in  a  proclamation  of  the 
Secretary  of  State,  dated  March  30,  1870,  to  have  been  ratified  by 
twenty-nine  of  the  thirty-seven  States. 


Constitutional  Government  241 


It  may  require  restrictions  on  all  immigrants  to  this  country, 
to  prevent  undesirable  persons  from  landing  either  on  our  east- 
ern or  western  shores,  without  discrimination  between  the  races. 
An  educational  qualification  is  one  point.  Loyalty  to  our  gov- 
ernment is  another  point.  The  ability  to  maintain  themselves 
unless  possessed  of  means  or  ability  to  provide  for  a  living  is 
another  point.  These  requirements  should  be  demanded  of 
immigrants  landing  in  this  country. 

Bills  having  that  purpose  are  now  before  the  Congress. 


SIXTEENTH  AMENDMENT. 

Sixty-first  Congress  of  the  United  States  of  America;  at  the 
First  Session,  Begun  and  held  at  the  City  of  Washington  on  Mon- 
day, the  fifteenth  day  of  March,  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
nine. 

Joint  Resolution  proposing  an  amendment  to  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States  : 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled  (two-thirds 
of  each  House  concurring  therein),  That  the  following  article 
is  proposed  as  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  which,  when  ratified  by  the  legislatures  of  three-fourths 
of  the  several  States,  shall  be  valid  to  all  intents  and  purposes  as 
a  part  of  the  Constitution : 

"Article  XVI.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  lay  and 
collect  taxes  on  incomes,  from  whatever  source  derived,  without 
apportionment  among  the  several  States,  and  without  regard  to 
any  census  or  enumeration." 

J.  G.  Cannon, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

J.  S.  Sherman, 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States  and 

President  of  the   Senate. 

Attest: 

A.  McDowell, 

Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

Charles  G.  Bennett, 

Secretary. 

Bv  Henry  H.  Gilery, 
Chief  Clerk. 


242  Constitutional  Government 


[indorsement.] 
I  certify  that  this  Joint  Resolution  originated  in  the  Senate. 

Charles  G.  Bennett, 

Secretary. 
By  Henry  H.  Gilfry, 

Chief  Clerk  * 

SEVENTEENTH   AMENDMENT. 

Sixty-second  Congress  of  the  United  States  of  America ;  at  the 
Second  Session,  Begun  and  held  at  the  City  of  Washington  on 
Monday,  the  fourth  day  of  December,  one  thousand  nine  hun- 
dred and  eleven. 

Joint  Resolution  Proposing  an  amendment  to  the  Constitu- 
tion providing  that  Senators  shall  be  elected  by  the  people  of  the 
several  States : 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled  (two-thirds  of 
each  House  concurring  therein),  That  in  lieu  of  the  first  para- 
graph of  section  three  of  Article  I  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  in  lieu  so  much  of  paragraph  two  of  the 
same  section  as  relates  to  the  filling  of  vacancies,  the  following 
be  proposed  as  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  which  shall  be 
valid  to  all  intents  and  purposes  as  part  of  the  Constitution  when 
ratified  bv  the  legislatures  of  three- fourths  of  the  States: 

"The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be  composed  of  two 
Senators  from  each  State,  elected  by  the  people  thereof,  for  six 
years :  and  each  Senator  shall  have  one  vote.  The  electors  in 
each  State  shall  have  the  qualifications  requisite  for  electors  of 
the  most  numerous  branch  of  the  State  legislatures. 

"When  vacancies  happen  in  the  representation  of  any  State 
in  the  Senate,  the  executive  authority  of  such  State  shall  issue 
writs  of  election  to  fill  such  vacancies:  Provided,  That  the 
legislature  of  any  State  may  empower  the  executive  thereof  to 
make  temporary  appointments  until  the  people  fill  the  vacancies 
by  election  as  the  legislature  may  direct. 

"This  amendment  shall  not  be  so  construed  as  to  afreet  the 
election  or  term  of  anv  Senator  chosen  before  it  becomes  valid 
as  part  of  the  Constitution." 

Champ  Clark, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Renresentatives. 

J.  S.  Sherman, 
Vice-president  of  the  United  States  and 

President  of  the  Senate. 


♦The  sixteenth  amendment  was  declared  in  a  proclamation  of  the 
Secretary  of  State,  dated  February  25,  1913,  to  have  been  ratified  by 
thirty-eight  of  the  forty-eight  States. 


Constitutional  Government  243 


[indorsement.] 

I  certify  that  this  Joint  Resolution  originated  in  the  House 
of  Representatives. 

South  Trimble, 

Clerk.* 

The  Seventh  Amendment  gives  the  people  the  right  to 
vote  direct  for  senators  of  the  United  States,  which  will  do 
away  with  the  abuse  of  power  exercised  by  the  members  of 
the  state  legislature.  Rich  and  powerful  corporations  that 
wished  to  have  a  representative  in  the  Senate  to  look  after  their 
interests,  have  for  many  years  spent  large  sums  of  money  in 
the  state  legislatures,  in  order  to  have  a  senator  chosen  who 
would  do  their  bidding.  The  result  of  this  was  to  take  the 
selection  of  the  senator,  who  was  supposed  to  represent  an  en- 
tire state,  away  from  the  people,  and  place  his  selection  in  the 
hands  of  the  monopolist  and  the  beneficiaries  of  special  legisla- 
tion. 

Some  of  the  framers  of  the  Constitution,  especially  Hamilton, 
were  skeptical  as  to  the  ability  of  the  people  to  govern  them- 
selves and  therefore  they  thought  to  remove  from  the  peo- 
ple the  election  of  the  members  of  the  upper  house.  So  they 
gave  the  power  to  the  legislatures  of  the  states  to  elect  the 
senators.  The  same  reasoning  was  responsible  for  the  election 
of  the  president  by  the  electoral  college.  Could  Hamilton, 
Jefferson,  Washington  and  Franklin  have  lived  to  the  present 
day  they  undoubtedly  would  declare  with  one  voice  that  the 
people  are  in  every  case  better  qualified  as  a  body  to  elect  sen- 
ators, and  much  less  liable  to  corrupting  influences,  than  com- 
binations of  men  brought  together  as  our  present  legislatures 
are,  with  party  jealousies,  personal  ambitions,  greed  for  power, 
place  and  money  ever  predominating. 

The  evils  occasioned  by  the  election  of  senators  in  the  old 
way  were  notorious,  and  cropped  out  in  nearly  every  state 
in  the  Union,  demonstrating  the  utter  failure  of  the  sys- 
tem to  secure  good  results.  Many  senators  purchased  their 
places  with  cold-blooded  contempt  for  popular  disapproval,  and 
kept  out  competent  and  honest  men  from  the  position.  After 
thus  purchasing  their  places,  they  systematically  co-operated  with 
corporations  and  trusts  to  defeat  the  will  of  the  people. 

If  the  people  can  be  relied  upon  to  elect  representatives  to 
congress  for  two  years,  and  governors  of  states  and  mayors  of 
cities,  they  surely  can  be  trusted  to  elect  United  States  senators 

•The  seventeenth  amendment  was  declared  in  a  proclamation  of 
the  Secretary  of  State,  dated  May  31,  1913,  to  have  been  ratified  by 
thirty-six  of  the  forty-eight  States. 


244  Constitutional  Government 


for  six  years.  The  quicker  they  begin  doing  this  the  better. 
Thus  the  state  legislatures  can  employ  their  time  passing  needed 
legislation  for  the  people,  instead  of  wrangling  over  United 
States  senatorships  and  in  the  sale  and  barter  of  votes. 

The  more  the  people  are  relied  upon  and  trusted  in  direct 
elections  the  better  they  will  respond. 


The  Referendum. 

It  is  very  probable  that  another  amendment  will  be  added 
to  the  Constitution  providing  for  the  Referendum.  If  the  peo- 
ple desire  this,  they  will  have  it,  no  matter  what  constitutional 
lawyers  and  politicians  may  say  about  their  lack  of  capacity 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  such  a  provision.  Like  the  will  of 
the  Czar  of  Russia,  the  will  of  the  majority  in  this  country  is 
absolute,  no  matter  who  objects  to  it.  It  is  as  safe  as  the  will 
of  the  Czar  or  a  privileged  class  in  any  country. 


Female  Suffrage. 

The  right  of  suffrage  in  the  United  States  should  be  extended 
to  all  female  citizens  over  twenty-one  years  of  age  on  the  same 
conditions  as  it  is  exercised  by  male  citizens. 


FEDERAL  CONTROL  OF  CHILD  LABOR. 

The  general  government  should  have  full  authority  through- 
out the  United  States  and  their  possessions  to  regulate  and  pro- 
tect the  development  and  health  of  children  and  prevent  their  en- 
slavement and  detrimental  employment. 


TEXT    OF    HOBSON    AMENDMENT    FOR    NATION-WIDE    PROHIBITION. 

The  text  of  Representative  Hobson's  proposed  amendment  to 
the  constitution  providing  for  prohibition  follows: 

Section  I — The  sale,  manufacture  for  sale,  transportation  for 
sale,  exportation  for  sale,  and  importation  for  sale  of  intoxicating 
liquors  for  beverage  purposes  in  the  United  States  and  all  ter- 
ritory subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof  are  forever  prohibited. 

Section  2 — Congress  shall  have  power  to  provide  in  favor  of 
the  manufacture,  sale,  importation,  and  transportation  of  intox- 
icating liquors   for  sacramental,  medicinal,  mechanical,  pharma- 


Constitutional  Government  245 


ceutical,  or  scientific  purposes  or  for  use  in  the  arts,  and  shall 
have  power  to  enforce  this  article  by  all  needful  legislation. 

The  resolution  carries  a  preamble  setting  forth  that  science 
has  demonstrated  alcohol  to  be  narcotic  poison  and  reciting  its 
evil  effects. 


RESOLUTION  TO  EXTEND  SUFFRAGE  TO  WOMEN,   MAY,    I914. 

Joint  resolutions  proposing  amendments  to  the  federal  consti- 
tution to  extend  the  right  of  suffrage  to  women  and  for  nation- 
wide prohibition  were  ordered  favorably  reported  without  recom- 
mendation to  the  House  by  the  judiciary  committee.  This  leaves 
both  proposals  to  the  House  for  decision  and  with  prospect  that 
votes  may  be  called  for.  The  two  measures  immediately  will  be 
put  upon  the  House  calendar.  The  woman  suffrage  amendment 
was  introduced  by  Representative  Mendell  of  Wyoming. 

It  is  the  first  time  that  a  national  prohibition  question  has  so 
nearly  confronted  either  branch  of  Congress,  and  it  is  24  years 
since  a  woman  suffrage  constitutional  amendment  resolution  has 
been  reported  to  House  or  Senate. 


Constitutional  Government  247 


CHAPTER  X. 
SWITZERLAND. 

The  most  interesting  constitution  outside  of  the  United  States 
Constitution,  for  an  American  to  study,  is  that  of  Switzerland. 
It  resembles  our  own  in  a  great  many  respects  but  has  some 
features  which  it  would  be  desirable  to  incorporate  into  ours. 
One  of  these  is  the  referendum,  which  in  some  cases  is  compul- 
sory. After  a  law  or  an  act  of  the  Assembly  has  been  passed, 
it  is  submitted  to  the  people  to  be  ratified  or  rejected  by 
them.  This  has  been  found  highly  satisfactory,  and  it  has  been 
demonstrated  that  it  is  a  much  easier  way  for  the  people  to 
obtain  what  they  want,  than  to  have  an  election  and  change 
their  representatives. 

Another  feature  which  has  been  found  highly  satisfactory 
is  the  Federal  Council.  This  body  is  chosen  by  the  Federal  As- 
sembly, which  has  been  chosen  by  the  people.  At  first  in  the 
United  States,  between  1800  and  1816,  the  presidents  were  nomi- 
nated by  caucuses  of  congressmen,  but  later  they  were  nominated 
by  national  conventions.  This  Council  contains  seven  members, 
and  is  practically  unchangeable,  as  the  old  members  are  nearly 
always  reelected.  Since  1848,  two  members  only  who  were 
willing  to  serve  failed  to  be  reelected.  Between  1848  and  1893, 
there  have  been  only  thirty-one  Federal  Councilors,  seven  still  in 
office.  Fifteen  members  held  the  position  over  ten  years,  four 
members  twenty  years,  and  one  member  thirty  years.  Each  mem- 
ber is  at  the  head  of  a  separate  department.  The  president,  who 
is  also  elected  by  the  Assembly,  holds  his  office  for  one  year  and 
cannot  be  elected  the  succeeding  year.  He  acts  as  chairman.  All 
the  members  of  the  Council  have  the  right  to  speak  in  either 
chamber  of  the  Assembly,  of  which  they  avail  themselves  when- 
ever their  presence  is  required,  or  indeed,  whenever  they  wish  to 
take  part  in  the  debate ;  but  they  cannot  vote. 

"Swiss  democracy  *  *  *  flows  from  two  different  sources; 
on  the  one  hand,  from  certain  primitive  Germanic  institutions,  pre- 
served during  the  Middle  Ages  by  the  people  of  the  High  Alps ; 
on  the  other,  from  the  principles  of  the  French  Revolution,  im- 
planted at  the  close  of  the  last  century  in  the  large  cantons,  and 
which  have  flourished  in  a  soil  long  since  prepared  for  them 
by  the  Reformation.     *     *     * 


248  Constitutional  Government 


"From  the  Germanic  tradition  proceeds  the  spirit  of  local  in- 
dependence, the  'cantonalism',  from  the  Latin  genius,  the  idea 
of  unity.     *     *     * 

"The  first  'Helvetic  Constitution'  was  drawn  up  in  Paris,  in 
Nivose,  Year  VI.,  upon  the  model  of  the  constitution  of  the  year 
III.  The  plan  was  elaborated  at  Bonaparte's  suggestion,  by  a 
magistrate  from  Basel,  Peter  Ochs,  then  upon  a  mission  to  the 
French  government.  Ochs  held  conferences  in  regard  to  the 
matter  with  Lareveillere-Lepaux,  Rewdell,  and  Daunou.  *  *  *" 
(Charles  Borgeaud,  Constitutions  of  Europe  and  America,  1895). 


THE)  SWISS  CONFEDERATION. 

A.  Lawrence  Lowell,  in  his  admirable  work  on  Governments  in 
Continental  Europe,  on  page  185,  Vof.  11,  says  that  "the  Swiss 
Confederation  resembles  our  own  in  being  a  union  of  states 
possessing  equal  rights,  but  the  distribution  of  power  between 
those  states  and  the  central  government  is  based  on  quite  a  dif- 
ferent plan  from  that  which  prevails  here.  On  this  point 
Switzerland  is  much  more  closely  akin  to  Germany  than  to 
America;  for  instead  of  assigning  to  the  federal  and  state 
governments  separate  spheres  of  action,  the  Swiss,  like  the  Ger- 
mans, have  combined  legislative  centralization  with  administra- 
tive decentralization,  the  federal  laws  being  carried  out  as  a  rule 
by  the  cantonal  authorities."  "The  Swiss  Confederation  is,  on 
the  whole,  the  most  successful  democracy  in  the  world.  Unlike 
almost  every  other  state  in  Europe,  it  has  no  irreconcilables — the 
only  persons  in  its  territory  who  could  in  any  sense  be  classed 
under  that  name  being  a  mere  handful  of  anarchists,  and  these, 
as  in  our  own  land,  are  foreigners.  The  people  are  contented. 
The  government  is  patriotic,  far-sighted,  efficient  and  economical, 
steady  in  its  policy,  not  changing  its  course  with  party  fluctua- 
tions. Corruption  in  public  life  is  almost  unknown,  and  appoint- 
ments to  office  are  not  made  for  political  purposes  by  the  federal 
authorities,  or  by  those  of  most  of  the  Cantons.  Officials  are 
selected  on  their  merits,  and  retained  as  long  as  they  can  do  their 
work,  and  yet  the  evils  of  bureaucracy  scarcely  exist.  All  this 
bears  witness  to  the  capacity  of  the  Swiss  for  self-government, 
and  to  the  integrity  and  statesmanship  of  their  rulers."    Page  334. 

"Athens,  like  Switzerland,  was  at  one  time  a  democracy.  In 
the  time  of  Demosthenes  questions  of  peace  and  war,  army  and 
fleet,  and  questions  of  finance  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  an 
assembly  of  the  people  which  handled  them  directly  as  far  as  pos- 
sible or  by  means  of  a  committee  chosen  for  short  periods  by  lot." 

The  President  of  the  Swiss  Republic  wrote:     "Switzerland, 


Constitutional  Government  249 


from  the  sincere  sympathy  which  she  has  for  the  Union,  looks 
with  anxiety  upon  the  issue  of  events  which  now  shake  that 
country.  Switzerland  passed  through  a  similar  crisis  fourteen 
years  ago,  which  threatened  to  tear  asunder  the  then  loose  con- 
nection of  the  twenty-two  cantons.  But  renewed,  rose  the  pres- 
ent confederation  from  that  tempest,  strengthened  internally 
and  abroad,  she  now  stands  there  esteemed  by  the  nations.  May 
God  grant  that  the  United  States  of  America  may  also  emerge 
renewed  and  strengthened  out  of  this  crisis." 

The  Constitution  of  Switzerland,  made  in  1848,  was  amended 
in  1874,  and  the  powers  of  the  federal  authorities  was  increased 
by  another  constitution,  which  has  been  amended  from  time  to 
time.  For  full  particulars  of  the  Swiss  Confederation,  see  "Com- 
parison of  Swiss  and  United  States  Political  Institutions,"  by 
Sir  Francis  Ottwell  Adams,  K.  C,  M.  A.,  C.  B. ;  and  C.  D.  Con- 
ningham.  This  contains  translation  of  Constitution  of  Switzer- 
land. See  also  "The  Governments  of  Continental  Europe,"  by 
Frederic  Austin  Ogg,  1913;  and  "Modern  Constitution"  by  Wal- 
ter F.  Dodd. 

Professor  Frederic  Austin  Ogg  says :  "The  adoption  of  the 
constitution  of  1848  ensured  a  modified  revival  of  the  govern- 
mental regime  of  1798- 1803,  comprising  a  distinct  victory  for  the 
Radical  or  Centralist  party.  During  the  two  decades  which  fol- 
lowed, this  party  maintained  complete  control  of  the  federal  gov- 
ernment, and  in  1872  it  brought  forward  the  draft  of  a  new  con- 
stitution whose  centralizing  tendencies  were  still  more  pro- 
nounced. By.  popular  vote  this  proposed  constitution  was  re- 
jected. Another  draft  however  was  proposed  and  April  19,  1874. 
By  a  vote  of  14^2  Cantons  against  y]/2  it  was  adopted.  The 
popular  vote  was  340,149  to  198,013. 

"As  a  recent  writer  has  said,  'the  one  region  on  the  continent 
to  which  the  storms  of  1848  brought  immediate  advantage  was 
Switzerland,  for  to  them  it  owes  its  transformation  into  a  well- 
organized  federal  state." — (W.  Oechsli,  in  Cambridge  Modern 
History,  XI,  234.) 

"The  Federal  Tribunal,  which  corresponds  with  our  Supreme 
Court,  is  unlike  the  latter  in  one  important  point,  namely:  it 
is  bound  by  an  express  provision  of  the  constitution  to  apply 
every  law  passed  by  the  Federal  Assembly  [See  Art.  I.,  113]. 
"It  has,  therefore,  none  of  the  peculiar  authority  vested  in  the 
Supreme  Court  of  holding  statutes  unconstitutional,  and  none  of 
the  exalted  dignity  which  that  authority  conveys,"  says  A.  Law- 
rence Lowell. 

In  the  Standard  Oil  case,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  in  its  desire  to  overthrow  and  nullify  an  act  of  Congress, 


250  Constitutional  Government 


took  the  unwarranted  liberty  of  interpreting  an  act  of  Congress 
by  the  "rule  of  reason"  instead  of  literally. 

So  in  the  Dred  Scott  case,  Judge  Taney's  definition  and  status 
of  a  negro  was  not  justified  by  any  express  statement  in  the 
constitution.  He  also  took  the  position  that  slavery  could  be 
extended  into  the  Territories,  or  was  not  excluded  from  the 
Territories  by  anything  that  the  constitution  contained. 

The  powers  granted  to  the  Supreme  Court,  under  our  con- 
stitution, are  too  great  for  a  republican  form  of  government, 
which  is  formed  to  carry  out  the  will  of  an  independent  people. 
The  government  rests  in  the  people  and  it  should  not  be  claimed 
that.it  rests  in  a  body  of  men  appointed  for  life,  who  are  given 
the  power  to  set  aside  the  laws  enacted  by  the  representatives  of 
the  people.    This  tends  to  an  oligarchical  form  of  government. 

"The  sovereignty  of  the  Cantons  resides  in  the  people  of  each 
Canton  and  at  the  commencement  of  their  constitution  words 
clearly  enunciating  this  principle  are  inserted.  According  to  the 
first  article  of  the  constitution  which  Zurich  adopted  in  1869,  the 
power  of  the  state  rests  upon  the  totality  of  the  people,  and  is 
exercised  directly  through  the  vote-possessing  citizen  [Aktiv- 
buerger]  and  indirectly  through  the  authorities  and  officials." 

"The  constitution  of  181 5,  which  restored  to  the  cantons  al- 
most all  of  their  former  independence,  continued  in  force  until 
1848." 

CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  SWISS   CONFEDERATION. 
(May  29,  1874.) 

IN  THE  NAME  OF  ALMIGHTY  GOD: 

The  Swiss  Confederation,  desiring  to  confirm  the  alliance 
of  the  Confederates,  to  maintain  and  to  promote  the  unity, 
strength,  and  honor  of  the  Swiss  nation,  has  adopted  the  follow- 
ing federal  constitutions: 


CHAPTER  I.    GENERAL  PROVISIONS. 

Article  1.  The  peoples  of  the  twenty-two  sovereign  cantons 
of  Switzerland,  united  by  this  present  alliance,  viz. :  Zurich,  Bern, 
Luzern,  Uri,  Schwyz,  Unterwalden  (Upper  and  Lower),  Glarus, 
Zug,  Freiburg,  Solothurn,  Basel  (urban  and  rural)  Schaff- 
hausen,  Appenzell  (the  two  Rhodes),  St.  Gallen,  Grisons, 
Aargau,  Thurgau,  Ticino,  Vaud,  Valais,  Neuchatel,  and  Geneva, 
form  in  their  entirety  the  Swiss  Confederation. 


Constitutional  Government  251 


Article  2.  The  purpose  of  the  Confederation  is,  to  secure 
the  independence  of  the  country  against  foreign  nations,  to 
maintain  peace  and  order  within,  to  protect  the  liberty  and 
the  rights  of  the  Confederates,  and  to  foster  their  common  wel- 
fare. 

Article  3.  The  cantons  are  sovereign,  so  far  as  their  sov- 
ereignty is  not  limited  by  the  federal  constitution;  and,  as  such, 
they  exercise  all  the  rights  which  are  not  delegated  to  the  federal 
government. 

Article  4.  All  Swiss  are  equal  before  the  law.  In  Switzer- 
land there  are  neither  political  dependents,  nor  privileges  of 
place,  birth,  person,  or  family. 

Article  5.  The  Confederation  guarantees  to  the  cantons  their 
territory,  their  sovereignty  within  the  limits  fixed  by  Art.  3, 
their  constitutions,  the  liberty  and  rights  of  the  people,  the  con- 
stitutional rights  of  citizens,  the  rights  and  powers  which  the 
people  have  conferred  upon  those  in  authority. 

Article  14.  In  case  of  differences  arising  between  cantons, 
the  states  shall  abstain  from  violence  and  from  arming  them- 
selves; they  shall  submit  to  the  decision  to  be  taken  upon  such 
differences  by  the  Confederation. 

Article  15.  In  case  of  sudden  danger  of  foreign  attack,  the 
authorities  of  the  threatened  canton  shall  request  the  aid  of 
other  members  of  the  Confederation  and  shall  immediately  notify 
the  federal  government;  the  subsequent  action  of  the  latter  shall 
not  thereby  be  precluded.  The  cantons  summoned  are  bound  to 
give  aid.    The  expenses  shall  be  borne  by  the  Confederation. 

Article  18.    Every  Swiss  is  bound  to  perform  military  service. 

Soldiers  who  lose  their  lives  or  suffer  permanent  injury  to 
their  health,  in  consequence  of  federal  service,  are  entitled  to  aid 
from  the  Confederation,  for  themselves  or  their  families,  in  case 
of  need. 

Each  soldier  shall  receive  without  expense  his  first  equipment, 
clothing  and  arms.  The  arms  shall  remain  in  the  hands  of  the 
soldier,  under  conditions  which  shall  be  prescribed  by  federal 
legislation. 

The  Confederation  shall  enact  uniform  provisions  as  to  a  tax 
for  exemption  from  military  service. 

Article  ig.    The  federal  army  shall  be  composed: 

(a)  Of  the  cantonal  military  corps. 

(b)  Of  all  Swiss  who  do  not  belong  to  such  military  corps, 
but  who  are  nevertheless  liable  to  military  service. 

The  Confederation  exercises  control  over  the  army  and  the 
material  of  war  provided  by  law. 

In  cases  of  danger,  the  Confederation  shall  also  have  the  ex- 


252  Constitutional  Government 


elusive  and  direct  control  of  men  not  included  in  the  federal 
army,  and  of  all  other  military  resources  of  the  cantons. 

The  cantons  shall  have  authority  over  the  military  forces  of 
their  territory,  so  far  as  this  right  is  not  limited  by  the  federal 
constitution  or  laws. 

Article  20.  The  laws  on  the  organization  of  the  army  shall  be 
enacted  by  the  Confederation.  The  enforcement  of  military  laws 
in  the  cantons  shall  be  intrusted  to  the  cantonal  officials,  within 
limits  which  shall  be  fixed  by  federal  legislation,  and  under  the 
supervision  of  the  Confederation. 

Military  instruction  of  every  kind  shall  be  under  the  control  of 
the  Confederation.    The  same  applies  to  the  equipment  of  troops. 

The  furnishing  and  maintenance  of  clothing  and  equipment 
shall  be  within  the  power  of  the  cantons ;  but  the  cantons  shall  be 
credited  with  the  expenses  therefor,  according  to  a  regulation  to 
be  established  by  federal  legislation. 

Article  21.  So  far  as  military  reasons  do  not  prevent,  corps  of 
troops  shall  be  formed  from  soldiers  of  the  same  canton. 

The  composition  of  these  bodies  of  troops,  the  maintenance 
of  their  effective  strength,  the  appointment  and  promotion  of 
their  officers  shall  belong  to  the  cantons,  subject  to  general  regu- 
lations which  shall  be  issued  to  them  by  the  Confederation. 

Note:  The  military  organization  law  of  April  12,  1907,  im- 
poses the  obligation  to  perform  military  service  upon  every  male 
Swiss  citizen  between  the  ages  of  twenty  and  forty-eight  years. 

Article  22.  Upon  the  payment  of  a  reasonable  compensation, 
the  Confederation  shall  have  the  right  to  use  or  acquire  drill- 
grounds  and  buildings  intended  for  military  purposes,  within  the 
cantons,  together  with  the  appurtenances  thereto. 

The  method  of  fixing  the  compensation  shall  be  settled  by  fed- 
eral legislation. 

Note:  (under  Art.  24):  The  utilization  of  hydraulic  power 
is  placed  under  the  supervision  of  the  Confederation.  With  ref- 
erence to  the  proper  utilization  of  hydraulic  power  and  with  ref- 
erence to  the  transmission  and  distribution  of  electric  power,  fed- 
eral legislation  shall  provide  the  general  regulations  necessary 
to  safeguard  the  public  interests.  With  the  reservation  of  such 
regulation,  the  cantons  shall  have  power  to  regulate  the  exploit- 
ation of  hydraulic  power. 

Article  31.  The  freedom  of  trade  and  of  industry  is  guar- 
anteed throughout  the  whole  extent  of  the  Confederation.  The 
following  subjects  are  excepted: 

(c)  (Drinking-places,  and  the  retail  trade  in  spirituous  li- 
quors, in  order  that  the  cantons  may  by  legislation  subject  the 
business    of   keeping   drinking-places,    and   the    retail   trade   in 


Constitutional  Government  253 


spirituous  liquors,  to  such  restrictions  as  may  be  required  for 
the  public  welfare). 

Note:  The  manufacture,  importation,  transportation,  sale, 
or  keeping  for  the  purpose  of  sale,  of  the  distilled  liquor  known 
under  the  name  of  absinthe  is  forbidden  throughout  the  whole 
extent  of  the  Confederation. 

Article  32.  The  net  proceeds  to  the  Confederation  from  the 
manufacture  of  alcohol,  and  from  the  corresponding  increase 
of  the  duty  on  imported  alcohol,  shall  be  divided  among  all  the 
cantons,  in  proportion  to  their  actual  population  as  established 
by  the  most  recent  federal  census.  Out  of  the  receipts  there- 
from the  cantons  must  expend  not  less  than  one-tenth  in  com- 
bating drunkenness  in  its  causes  and  effects.) 

Article  36.  The  posts  and  telegraphs  in  all  Switzerland  shall 
be  controlled  by  the  Confederation. 

The  proceeds  of  the  posts  and  telegraphs  shall  belong  to  the 
federal  treasury. 

Article  41.  The  manufacture  and  sale  of  gunpowder  through- 
out Switzerland  shall  belong  exclusively  to  the  Confederation. 

Article  50.  The  free  exercise  of  religion  is  guaranteed,  within 
limits  compatible  with  public  order  and  good  morals.  The 
Cantons  and  the  Confederations  may  take  the  measures  neces- 
sary for  the  preservation  of  public  order  and  of  the  peace  between 
the  members  of  different  religious  bodies;  and  also  against 
encroachments  of  ecclesiastical  authorities  upon  the  rights  of 
citizens  of  the  State. 

Article  52.  The  foundation  of  new  convents  or  religious 
orders,  or  the  re-establishment  of  those  which  have  been  sup- 
pressed, is  forbidden. 

Children  born  before  marriage  are  made  legitimate  by  the 
subsequent  marriage  of  their  parents. 

Article  55.    The  freedom  of  the  press  is  guaranteed. 

Article  69.  (ii)  The  Confederation  shall  have  the  power 
to  enact  laws : 

(a)  Concerning  traffic  in  food  products. 

(b)  Concerning  traffic  in  other  articles  of  use  and  consump- 
tion, in  so  far  as  they  may  be  dangerous  to  life  and  health.,  etc. 

Article  70.  The  Confederation  may  expel  from  its  terri- 
tory foreigners  who  endanger  the  internal  or  external  safety  of 
Switzerland. 


254  Constitutional  Government 


CHAPTER  II.    FEDERAL  AUTHORITIES. 

I.    Federal  Assembly. 

Article  71.  With  the  reservation  of  the  rights  of  the  people 
and  of  the  cantons  (Arts.  89  and  121),  the  supreme  authority 
of  the  Confederation  shall  be  exercised  by  the  Federal  Assembly, 
which  shall  consist  of  two  sections  or  councils,  to  wit: 

A.  The  National  Council; 

B.  The  Council  of  States. 

A.  National  Council. 

Article  72.  The  National  Council  shall  consist  of  representa- 
tives of  the  Swiss  people,  chosen  in  the  ratio  of  one  member 
for  each  20,000  persons  of  the  total  population.  Fractions  of 
upwards  of  10,000  persons  shall  be  reckoned  as  20,000. 

Every  canton,  and  in  the  divided  cantons  every  half -canton, 
shall  choose  at  least  one  representative. 

Article  73.  The  elections  for  the  National  Council  shall  be 
direct.  They  shall  be  held  in  federal  electoral  districts,  which  in 
no  case  shall  be  formed  out  of  parts  of  different  cantons. 

Article  74.  Every  Swiss  who  has  completed  twenty  years  of 
age,  and  who  in  addition  is  not  excluded  from  the  rights  of  a 
voter  by  the  legislation  of  the  canton  in  which  he  resides,  shall 
have  the  right  to  vote  in  elections  and  popular  votes. 

B.  Council  of  States. 

Article  80.  The  Council  of  States  shall  consist  of  forty-four 
representatives  of  the  cantons.  Each  canton  shall  appoint  two 
representatives;  in  the  divided  cantons,  each  half-canton  shall 
choose  one. 

Article  81.  The  members  of  the  National  Council  and  those 
of  the  Federal  Council  may  not  be  representatives  in  the  Coun- 
cil of  States. 

Article  82.  The  Council  of  States  shall  choose  from  among 
its  own  members  a  president  and  a  vice-president  for  each 
regular  or  extraordinary  session. 

C.    Powers  of  the  Federal  Assembly. 

Article  84.  The  National  Council  and  the  Council  of  States 
shall  consider  the  subjects  which  the  present  constitution  places 
within  the  competence  of  the  Confederation  and  which  are  not 
assigned  to  any  other  federal  authority. 

The  act  of  June  27,  1874,  gives  the  Federal  Tribunal  power  to 
hold  a  Cantonal  law  invalid  on  account  of  being  contrary  to 
the  constitution.     Conflicts   of  jurisdiction  between  a   Federal 


Constitutional  Government  255 


Tribunal  and  a  Cantonal  authority  are  decided  by  the  Federal 
Tribunal  itself.  Conflicts  between  the  Federal  Council  and  the 
Federal  Tribunal  are  decided  by  the  Federal  Assembly.  [Consti- 
tution Art.  85,  Par.  13.] 

In  regard  to  the  growth  of  authority  of  national  government, 
see  collection  of  Cantonal  Constitutions  published  by  the  federal 
government  in  1890. 

Article  93.  Measures  may  originate  in  either  Council,  and 
may  be  introduced  by  any  of  their  members. 

The  cantons  may  by  correspondence  exercise  the  same  right. 

Note:  On  March  6,  1906,  the  Federal  Council  presented  to 
the  Federal  Assembly  a  project  for  the  revision  of  the  consti- 
tution extending  popular  initiative  to  federal  legislation.  This 
project  was  debated  in  the  National  Council  in  December,  1906, 
and  was  referred  back  to  the  Federal  Council  for  a  further 
report;  it  will  probably  be  adopted  in  substance  if  not  in  the 
exact  form  as  proposed.  The  project  of  the  Federal  Council 
adds  two  articles  to  the  constitution,  between  Arts.  93  and  94, 
and  reads  as  follows: 

Art.  93  (ii).  Fifty  thousand  Swiss  voters  or  eight  cantons 
shall  have  the  right  to  demand  the  passage,  modification,  or  re- 
peal of  a  federal  law,  as  well  as  the  modification  or  repeal  of 
a  federal  decree  of  general  application. 


LL.    Federai,  Council. 

Article  95.  The  supreme  directive  and  executive  authority 
of  the  Confederation  shall  be  exercised  by  a  Federal  Council, 
composed  of  seven  members. 

Article  06.  The  members  of  the  Federal  Council  shall  be 
chosen  from  three  years,  by  the  National  Council  and  Council 
of  States  in  Joint  session,  from  among  all  the  Swiss  nations 
eligible  to  the  National  Council.  But  not  more  than  one  member 
of  the  Federal  Council  shall  be  chosen  from  the  same  canton. 

From  Article  08.  The  president  of  the  confederation  and 
the  vice-president  of  the  Federal  Council  shall  be  chosen  for 
one  year  by  the  Federal  Assembly,  from  among  the  members 
of  the  Council.  The  retiring  president  shall  not  be  chosen  as 
president  or  vice-president  for  the  ensuing  year. 

Article  101.  The  members  of  the  Federal  Council  shall  have 
the  right  to  speak,  but  not  to  vote,  in  both  houses  of  the  Federal 
Assembly,  and  also  to  the  right  to  make  motions  on  the  subject 
under  consideration. 


256  Constitutional  Government 


III.    Federal  Chancellery. 

Article  105.  A  Federal  Chancellery,  at  the  head  of  which  is 
placed  the  chancellor  of  the  Confederation,  shall  perform  the 
duties  of  secretary  for  the  Federal  Assembly  and  the  Federal 
Council. 

The  chancellor  shall  be  chosen  by  the  Federal  Assembly  for 
the  term  of  three  years,  at  the  same  time  as  the  Federal  Council. 


IV.    Federal   Court. 

Article  106.  There  shall  be  a  Federal  Court  for  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice  in  Federal  Matters. 

There  shall,  furthermore,  be  a  jury  for  criminal  cases.  (Art. 
1X2.) 

Article  107.  The  members  and  alternates  of  the  Federal 
Court  shall  be  chosen  by  the  Federal  Assembly,  which  shall 
take  care  that  all  three  national  languages  are  represented 
therein. 

CHAPTER  III.    AMENDMENT  OF  THE  FEDERAL 
CONSTITUTION. 

Article  118.  The  federal  constitution  may  at  any  time  be 
amended,  in  whole  or  in  part. 

Article  121.  Partial  revision  may  take  place  either  by  popular 
initiative  or  in  the  manner  provided  for  the  passage  of  federal 
laws. 

The  popular  initiative  shall  consist  of  a  petition  of  fifty  thou- 
sand Swiss  voters  for  the  adoption  of  a  new  article  or  for  the 
abrogation  or  amendment  of  specified  articles  of  the  consti- 
tution. 

(In  the  preparation  of  this  text  assistance  has  been  received 
from  the  translation  made  by  Professor  A.  B.  Hart  and  issued 
in  "Old  South  Leaflets",  No.  18,  and  from  that  of  Professor  E. 
J.  James,  Philadelphia,  1890.  Walter  Fairleigh  Dodd). 
The  constitution  is  not  given  in  full,  but  only  its  more  prominent 
features.  See  Modern  Constitution  by  Walter  F.  Dodd  for  en- 
tire text. 

THE    LANDSGEMEINDE. 

"This  institution  which  resembles  the  old  New  England  town 
meeting,  is  a  survival  of  the  primitive  Teutonic  folk-note,  and 
still  exists  in  two  cantons  and  four  half -cantons." 


Constitutional  Government  257 


"On  a  Sunday  morning  in  May,  the  Landamman,  or  Chief 
Magistrate  of  the  Canton,  accompanied  by  attendants,  dressed 
in  the  black  and  yellow  livery  of  Uri,  and  bearing  the  huge 
horns  of  a  wild  bull,  starts  for  the  meadow,  followed  by  all  the 
people.  When  the  procession  reaches  the  spot,  the  Landamman 
takes  his  seat  at  a  table  in  the  center  of  the  field,  while  the 
men  fill  the  space  around  him,  and  the  women  and  children  stand 
upon  the  rising  ground  beyond. 

"The  measures  to  be  proposed  are  brought  forward,  freely  de- 
bated and  voted  upon  by  the  citizens,  and  finally  the  officers  are 
elected  for  the  ensuing  year. 

"The  form  of  the  proceeding  is  similar  to  that  of  the  New 
England  Town  Meeting  and  must  have  the  same  value  as  a 
means  of  political  education." — A.  Lawrence  Lowell.  Vol.  II, 
page  222;  Adams,  page  130-32. 

In  the  Landesgeminde  Cantons,  all  powers  are  exercised  by  the 
assembly  of  citizens,  meeting  at  fixed  times  in  veritable  Champs 
de  Mai.  Any  member  of  the  Landesgeminde  has  the  right  to 
present  any  bill.  This  is  the  first  and  most  essential  of  his  pre- 
rogatives. It  is  restricted  simply  by  the  necessity  of  presenting 
the  petition  in  time  to  get  it  upon  the  order  of  the  day  (Memo- 
rial), which  must  be  published  in  advance.  Sometimes  a  small 
number  of  signatures  is  required. 

In  1869,  the  Grand  Council  of  Zurich  ceased  to  exist,  or  at 
least  ceased  to  possess  legislative  power  and  the  people  declared 
in  their  new  constitution  that  they  would  exercise  the  power 
themselves,  with  the  assistance  of  a  cantonal  council  (Kantons- 
rath).  This  sanction  of  the  principle  of  direct  legislation  was 
not  followed  by  the  introduction  of  the  Landesgeminde.  Such 
an  institution  cannot  be  suddenly  created.  In  order  to  realize  the 
great  industrial  and  agricultural  canton  the  advantages  which  the 
citizens  of  the  forest  canton  were  seen  to  possess  recourse  was 
had  to  the  obligatory  referendum  and  the  right  of  popular  initia- 
tive. It  was  provided  that  the  laws  whose  preparation  was 
given  to  Kantonsrath,  should  all  be  submitted  to  the  people  for 
approval,  and  that  the  right  to  propose  new  ones  or  to  move  the 
abrogation  of  existing  provisions  should  belong  to  the  voters  as 
well  as  their  representatives. " — Charles  Borgeaud,  Constitutions 
in  Europe  and  America,  1895. 

SWITZERLAND  THE  PORCUPINE   OF"    EUROPE. 

Lieut.  Frederick  Kuenzli,  late  of  the  Swiss  army,  gives  the 
following  account  of  the  Swiss  military  system:  Switzerland 
does  not  want  war,  and,  therefore,  created  a  system  of  defense 
that  keeps  her  immune  from  attack  by  a  neighboring  nation. 


258  Constitutional  Government 


Germany,  France,  Italy  and  Austria  know  that  the  Swiss  sys- 
tem and  Army  is  not  only  theoretically  a  good  defensive  system, 
but  also  a  practical  one,  or  else  what  would  keep  the  millions  of 
French  and  Italians  from  going  through  Switzerland  and  hitting 
at  the  most  vital  parts  of  Germany?  Or  what,  if  not  the  Swiss 
Army,  keeps  the  Germans  from  hurling  their  armies  by  the  good 
roads  of  Switzerland  to  France  and  Italy?  That  none  of  the  four 
nations  at  war  that  hem  in  the  little  Alpine  republic  dares  to 
make  Switzerland  the  link  to  get  at  the  other,  like  unfortunate 
Belgium  was  made,  is  a  tacit  admittance  of  the  practical  merit 
of  Helvetia's  military  system  and  army. 

The  introduction  of  the  "Infantry  Drill  Regulations  of  the 
United  States  Army"  reads :  "Success  in  battle  is  the  ultimate 
object  of  all  military  training,  success  may  be  looked  for  only 
when  the  training  is  intelligent  and  thorough." 

Thorough  and  intelligent  military  training  is  exactly  what  the 
Swiss  training  system  offers  to  her  male  population,  and  the 
efficient  and  uniform  way  in  which  the  young  Swiss  is  educated 
to  defend  his  property,  his  liberties  and  pursuance  of  happiness, 
must  bring  success  if  he  is  put  to  the  test.  Switzerland  tries  to 
make  her  sons  well-disciplined  soldiers  and  good  marksmen. 
Thanks  to  the  training  in  schools,  cadet  corps  and  preparatory 
courses,  70  per  cent,  of  the  Swiss  that  enter  the  service  are  al- 
ready physically  well-trained  men  and  competent  marksmen. 
To  acquire  discipline  the  young  man  is  made  to  grow  into  it  by 
a  system  of  physical  training  that  forms  a  part  of  the  school  ed- 
ucation. The  great  educator,  Henry  Pestalozzi,  pointed  the  way 
for  physical  exercises  that  were  to  correspond  to  the  physiolog- 
ical and  natural  development  of  the  boy.  In  his  educational 
operations  Pestalozzi  always  regarded  the  child  as  an  indissoluble 
whole,  an  organized  unit,  endowed  with  manifold  faculties  of 
body,  mind  and  heart,  and  thought  that  the  development  of  the 
one  was  inseparable  from  the  true  evolution  of  the  others  and 
must  be  mutual. 

The  best  form  of  the  needed  physical  exercises  for  boys  and 
in  the  meantime  a  great  help  to  learn  discipline,  was  found  to  be 
the  exercises  as  contained  in  the  military  drill  regulations  of  the 
Swiss  Army.  Therefore,  the  whole  physical  training  of  the 
Swiss  boy  in  school,  which  begins  at  his  tenth  year  and  extends 
to  the  year  he  leaves  school  has  as  a  basis  the  "Infantry  Drill  of 
the  Army."  There  is  only  one  manual,  onfy  one  primer  for  the 
whole  physical  training  in  school  and  that  is  edited  by  the  Swiss 
War  Department.  Needless  to  say  that  such  a  uniform,  thor- 
ough drilling  for  six  years,  followed  by  instructions  in  cadet 
corps  and  preparatory  courses  makes  the  young  man  a  very  prom- 
ising soldier.    When  he  enters  service  as  a  recruit  he  is  thorough- 


Constitutional  Government  259 


ly  acquainted  as  to  the  individual  work  he  has  to  perform  in  his 
team,  the  work  has  become  his  second  nature  and  automatically 
he  executes  the  commands  that  are  so  familiar  to  his  ear.  He 
is  a  willing  receiver  for  all  advice  and  training  that  make  him 
a  finished  soldier,  efficient  to  take  the  field  with  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  his  comrades,  all  burning  with  the  common  spirit  "One 
for  all,  all  for  one." 

Along  with  the  physical  training  in  school  goes  the  military 
training  in  cadet  corps,  when  the  boy  is  trained  to  become  a  har- 
dened marcher  and  a  good  shot.  The  cadet  wears  a  uniform  and 
has  a  miniature  model  of  the  regulation  rifle.  He  goes  through 
the  same  instructions  and  rifle  practices  as  the  soldier  and  ob- 
serves the  standard  exercises  of  the  army. 

Every  Swiss  soldier  in  his  civil  life  is  compelled  to  be  a  mem- 
ber of  a  rifle  club,  under  the  supervision  of  which  he  has  to  un- 
dergo a  yearly  rifle  shooting  test,  consisting  of  six  times  six  or 
thirty  six  shots  with  a  minimum  of  75  per  cent,  hits  and  60  per 
cent,  points.  Such  an  ordinance  compels  every  village  and  town 
to  have  a  field  range  in  which  the  cadet  and  the  man  in  prepar- 
atory course  can  practice  to  his  heart's  content. 

This,  the  preparation  of  the  boy  from  his  tenth  to  his  twenti- 
eth year,  is  the  system  that  can  readily  be  transplanted  to  our 
country.  The  compulsory  service  system  is  something  that  for 
dozens  of  reasons  we  cannot  adopt  as  a  whole.  History,  geo- 
graphical position,  a  groundstanding  population  of  4,000,000 
enabled  Switzerland  to  create  a  system  that  could  not  be  intro- 
duced in  a  reasonable  time  to  100,000,000  of  a  migrating  popula- 
tion. 

Let  us  have  a  larger  standing  army  and  "a  citizenry  trained 
and  accustomed  to  arms"  by  a  voluntary  system  and  all  the  de- 
mands for  our  land  forces  of  national  defense  are  fulfilled. 

To  say  that  the  military  training  in  school  along  the  lines  of 
the  Swiss  system  fosters  martial  spirit  to  the  sacrifice  of  other 
lines  of  endeavor  is  ridiculous,  as  Switzerland  today  is  a  verit- 
able hive  of  industry  and  commerce,  and  has  as  well  means  to 
protect  those  pursuits  from  destruction  by  an  invading  foe. 
When  did  we  hear  from  Switzerland  that  the  profession  of  the 
civil  life  of  the  inhabitants  was  ever  in  danger  of  being  domin- 
ated by  the  desire  of  a  frivolous  war?  Who  wants  to  say  that 
our  boys  in  public  school  are  overburdened  with  hours  of  school? 
Five  hours  a  day  for  180  days  a  year  should  certainly  not  forbid 
three  more  horrs  a  week  for  their  country's  good  and  "for  mere 
health's  sake,  if  nothing-  more,"  as  Woodrow  Wilson  says. 

The  above  is  the  statement  of  a  trained  Swiss  soldier  who  is 
is  now  a  loyal  citizen  of  the  United  States. 


Constitutional  Government  261 


CHAPTER  XL 
PORTUGAL. 

THE  REVOLUTION  OF  THE  5TH  OF  OCTOBER. 

The  Revolution  of  October  5,  1910,  which  overthrew  the 
monarchical  regime  in  Portugal,  was  merely  the  outcome  of  an- 
other revolution  on  the  31st  of  January,  1891.  On  this  date  the 
Republican  forces  in  Oporto,  jointly  with  the  parties  in  Coimbra 
and  Lisbon,  had  planned  a  general  uprising  to  take  place  on  the 
same  day  and  hour.  Due  to  some  mysterious  cause  the  wires  be- 
tween Oporto,  Coimbra  and  Lisbon  were  cut  and  the  Revolu- 
tionists could  not  get  word  to  one  another  so  as  to  give  the  date 
and  the  hour  for  the  uprising.  Consequently  the  forces  at 
Oporto  came  out  on  the  31st  of  January,  while  their  allies  in  the 
other  cities  were  absolutely  ignorant  of  this  move.  The  result 
of  this  was  the  defeat  of  the  Republican  forces  by  the  Municipal 
Guard  and  the  absolute  failure  of  the  first  Republican  uprising. 
However  the  Republicans  did  not  remain  idle.  For  twenty  years 
they  worked,  rallying  their  forces  and  holding  their  followers 
in  check,  so  as  to  prevent  any  false  move  that  would  again  wreck 
their  hopes. 

Another  movement  was  planned  for  the  third  of  October  of 
1910  in  which  the  military  forces  of  the  city  of  Lisbon,  together 
with  the  people,  were  to  come  out  and  once  more  fight  for  that 
liberty  which  was  denied  them.  But  once  more  it  seemed  as 
if  the  Revolution  must  be  delayed,  for  on  the  morning  of  the 
day  set  for  this  outbreak,  their  leader,  Dr.  Miguel  Bombarda, 
the  man  who  had  worked  and  planned  to  make  it  a  success,  was 
assassinated  by  a  lunatic.  However  this  did  not  hold  them  back, 
for  another  man  who  had  assisted  Dr.  Bombarda  in  his  work, 
took  upon  himself  the  leadership  of  the  Revolutionary  forces. 
A  few  hours  before  the  first  shot  was  fired,  the  new  leader, 
Vice  Admiral  Candido  dos  Reis,  was  found  dead  in  front  of  his 
residence.  It  seemed  as  if  everything  was  working  against  this 
movement.  It  seemed  as  if  some  hidden  power  was  warning 
them  not  to  carry  out  their  plans.  But  the  people  of  Portugal 
had  suffered  too  long  the  tyrannical  acts  of  the  monarchy,  the 
errors  of  every  day.  They  could  not  wait  any  longer  and  on  the 
night  of  3rd  of  October  the  16th  Infantry,  together  with  the  1st 


262  Constitutional  Government 

Artillery  and  a  body  of  people,  marched  to  the  Avenida  da 
Liberdade,  and  there  awaited  the  attack  of  the  Municipal  Guard, 
loyal  to  the  old  regime,  and  which  was  the  greatest  menace  to  the 
cause. 

The  two  cruisers,  S.  Raphael  and  Adamastor,  stationed  in 
the  harbor,  had  pledged  their  assistance  to  the  Republican  cause, 
and  upon  being  notified  of  this  movement,  they  began,  several 
hours  after,  cannonading  the  Royal  Palace  and  other  important 
points  where  the  Royalist  troops  were  sheltered.  The  people 
came  from  all  sides,  some  armed,  others  waiting  for  the  first 
attack  to  take  the  arms  they  needed  from  the  fallen.  It  was 
not  a  fight  between  the  military,  but  one  in  which  the  people 
shared  the  danger  and  fought  bravely  for  their  principles. 
Credit  must  be  given  to  the  Naval  Commissioner,  Mr.  Antonio 
A.  Machado  dos  Santos,  who  directed  the  building  and  defense  of 
the  barricade  in  the  Avenida  da  Liberdade.  Here  was  waged 
the  greatest  fight  for  supremacy.  The  Rocio  had  been  oc- 
cupied by  the  5th  Infantry  and  another  regiment  and  further 
up  the  avenue  the  Artillery  watched  for  the  Royalist  forces. 
From  Queluz  came  several  batteries  of  rapid  fire  guns.  These 
were  still  loyal  to  the  old  regime,  but  were  insufficient,  for 
hemmed  in  from  all  sides  they  fought  on  bravely  during  three 
days.  On  the  morning  of  the  5th  the  cruiser  D.  Carlos,  which 
up  to  then  had  been  faithful  to  the  monarchy,  pulled  down  the 
blue  and  white  of  the  king  and  hoisted  in  its  place  the  green 
and  red  of  the  Republicans.  A  mighty  cheer  went  up,  for  im- 
mediately after,  aided  by  the  three  cruisers  in  the  harbor,  the 
Republican  troops  forced  the  surrender  of  the  Royalist  regi- 
ments and  the  Republic  was  finally  planted  firmly  on  Portuguese 
soil. 

The  king  in  his  palace  was  anxiously  waiting  for  an  oppor- 
tunity to  come  out  and  lead  his  forces,  but  his  ministers  held  him 
back.  He  did  not  understand  the  crisis.  He  did  not  see  that 
his  counselors  exploited  his  symbol,  that  they  used  his  crown  as 
a  pawn  in  the  game  they  played  for  riches  and  personal  power. 
Educated  in  a  Jesuitic  medium,  his  surroundings  closed  his  eyes 
to  the  suffering  of  his  people.  His  nobles  and  his  counselors  had 
lost  faith  in  the  past,  and  they  fled  when  danger  seemed  near. 
They  fled,  leaving  him  alone  to  face  that  mighty  avalanche  of 
popular  indignation.  But  the  Republicans  were  not  fighting  the 
king.  They  were  fighting  a  religious  power,  which  had  such  a 
hold  in  the  whole  nation  that  its  word  was  law.  This  was 
the  true  cause  of  the  Revolution,  for  while  this  power  lasted  the 
people  would  always  be  kept  in  ignorance.  The  king,  just  as 
his  forefathers,  had  always  furthered  the  interests  of  this  relig- 
ious sect.     Blinded  by  the  things  he  had  been  taught  to  believe 


Constitutional  Government  263 


in,  driven  by  the  queen  mother  to  give  his  all  to  this  religious 
power,  he  did  not  realize  the  errors  of  every  day,  the  tyrannical 
acts  of  the  monarchy.  Strengthened  by  that  blind  faith,  by  that 
fictitious  power  which  he  believed  would  help  him  in  his  hour 
of  need,  he  drove  to  his  doom,  and  on  the  5th  of  October,  19 10, 
five  hours  after  the  proclamation  of  the  Republic  in  Portugal, 
he  was  escorted  with  his  court,  by  a  platoon  of  cavalry  to  the 
harbor,  where  he  took  a  poor  fisherman's  boat  to  the  yacht 
Amelia,  which  immediately  sailed  for  Gibraltar.  It  is  well  to 
say  here  that  the  king  did  not.  leave  a  pauper,  for  he  received 
from  the  Republican  Government  the  value  of  his  properties 
and  lands  in  Portugal.  With  the  fall  of  the  monarchy,  the  sep- 
aration of  church  and  state  became  a  reality  and  this  series  of 
events  lead  us  to  the  promulgation  of  the  Political  Constitution 
of  the  Portuguese  Republic  which  is  given  in  the  following  pages. 

A.  C.  Courrege. 


POLITICAL  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  PORTUGUESE 

REPUBLIC 

Promulgated  by  Decree  of  21  of  August  of  1911 

TRANSLATED  BY  A.  C.   C.  COURRAGE. 

The  National  Constituent  Assembly,  having  sanctioned 
unanimously  in  its  session  of  19  of  June,  191 1,  the  Revolution  of 
5  of  October,  1910,  and  confirming  its  unbroken  faith  in  the 
superior  destinies  of  the  Nation,  under  a  regime  of  liberty  and 
justice,  enacts,  decrees  and  promulgates,  in  the  name  of  liberty 
and  justice,  the  following  Political  Constitution  of  the  Portu- 
guese Republic. 

TITLE   1 

Form  of  Government  and  Territory  of  the  Portuguese  Nation. 

Article  1  The  Portuguese  Nation  organized  in  a  Unitary 
State,  adopts  as  form  of  government  the  Republic,  in  the  terms 
given  under  this  Constitution. 

Article  2  The  territory  of  the  Portuguese  Nation  comprises 
all  of  the  pre-existing  territory  up  to  the  date  of  the  proclama- 
tion of  the  Republic. 

Par.  The  nation  does  not  renounce  the  rights  it  may  have 
in  any  territory  or  that  it  may  acquire  in  the  future. 


264  Constitutional  Government 


title  II 
Individual  rights  and  guarantees. 

Article  3  The  Constitution  guarantees  to  Portuguese  citi- 
zens and  foreigners  residing  in  the  country  the  inviolability  of 
rights  of  liberty,  individual  safety  and  property  in  the  following 
manner : 

1  No  citizen  shall  be  compelled  to  do  or  refrain  from  doing 
anything  except  by  virtue  of  law. 

2  The  law  shall  be  equal  for  all,  but  only  that  which  is 
enacted  under  the  terms  of  this  Constitution  is  inviolable. 

3  The  Portuguese  Republic  does  not  admit  privileges  of 
birth  or  patent  letters  of  nobility,  repeals  all  council  and  nobiliary 
titles,  and  honorary  orders,  with  all  their  prerogatives  and  re- 
galias. 

4  Civic  deeds  and  military  acts  may  be  rewarded  with  spe- 
cial diplomas. 

A  Portuguese  citizen  cannot  accept  foreign  decorations. 

5  The  State  recognises  the  political  and  civil  equality  of  all 
creeds  and  guarantees  their  practice  within  the  limits  compatible 
with  public  order,  laws  and  good  habits,  as  long  as  they  do  not 
offend  the  principles  of  Portuguese  public  rights. 

6  No  one  shall  be  prosecuted  for  their  religion  nor  ques- 
tioned as  to  which  they  profess  by  any  authority. 

7  No  one  can,  because  of  religious  opinion,  be  deprived  of 
a  right,  nor  refuse  to  discharge  any  civic  duty. 

8  The  public  cult  of  any  religion  may  be  held  in  the  build- 
ings chosen  for  that  purpose  or  so  designated  by  their  different 
followers,  and  they  may  always  take  the  outward  form  of  a 
temple;  but  in  the  interest  of  public  order  and  liberty  and  safety 
of  citizens,  a  special  law  will  regulate  the  conditions  of  its 
practice. 

9  The  public  cemeteries  will  have  a  secular  character, 
therefore  it  is  free  for  all  religious  cults  to  practice  their  re- 
spective rites,  as  long  as  they  do  not  offend  the  public  moral, 
the  principles  of  the  Portuguese  public  right  and  the  law. 

10  The  education  given  in  the  public  and  private  estab- 
lishments fiscalized  by  the  State  shall  be  neutral  in  religious 
matters. 

11  Primary  education  shall  be  compulsory  and  free. 

12  The  legislation  that  ended  and  dissolved  in  Portugal 
the  "Companhia  de  Jesus"  and  its  affiliated  societies,  no  matter 
what  their  denomination,  shall  always  be  in  force  and  all  other 
religious  congregations  and  monastic  orders  shall  never  again 
be  admitted  in  Portuguese  territory. 

13  All  persons  shall  have  the  right  of  liberty  of  speech, 


Constitutional  Government  265 


and  they  shall  not  be  liable  to  censure  or  have  to  obtain  previous 
authorization,  but  the  abuse  of  this  right  is  punishable  in  such 
cases  and  in  such  manner  as  the  law  determines. 

14  All  persons  shall  have  the  right  of  reunion  and  associa- 
tion, but  special  laws  shall  determine  the  manner  and  conditions 
of  its  exercise. 

15  The  house  of  every  citizen  is  an  inviolable  refuge.  At 
night  no  one  shall  enter  it  except  with  his  permission,  or  in  case 
of  request  from  within,  or  to  help  the  victims  of  crimes  or  dis- 
asters. During  the  day  no  house  shall  be  entered,  except  in  such 
cases  and  in  the  manner  provided  by  law. 

16  No  person  shall  be  arrested  without  first  being  indicted, 
unless  he  be  detected  in  the  act  and  for  the  following;  high 
treason,  falsification  of  coins,  of  national  banks'  bills  and  titles 
of  the  Portuguese  public  debt,  voluntary  homicide,  domestic 
theft,  theft,  fraudulent  bankruptcy  or  arson. 

17  No  one  shall  be  taken  to  prison,  or  being  in  prison,  shall 
be  retained  there,  if  he  will  furnish  proper  bail,  in  such  cases 
as  the  law  will  permit. 

18  Except  when  an  offender  is  taken  in  the  act,  no  one 
shall  be  arrested  unless  upon  the  written  order  of  the  proper 
authority  and  in  comformity  with  the  express  disposition  of  the 
law. 

19  No  one  shall  be  imprisoned  for  nonpayment  of  costs 
or  stamps. 

20  The  instructions  of  the  judge  in  criminal  cases  shall 
be  unbiased,  assuring  the  offender,  before  and  after  the  procedure 
of  the  trial,  all  the  guarantees  of  a  fair  defense. 

21  No  person  shall  be  sentenced  except  by  competent  au- 
thority, by  virtue  of  a  pre-existing  law  and  in  the  manner  pre- 
scribed by  such  law. 

22  The  penalty  of  death  cannot  be  passed  in  any  case,  nor 
perpetual  corporal  penalties  or  of  unlimited  duration. 

23  No  penalty  shall  extend  beyond  the  person  of  the 
offender,  therefore  there  shall  be  no  confiscation  of  goods,  nor 
shall  the  infamy  of  the  offender  extend  to  his  relatives  in  any 
degree. 

24  The  right  of  revision  of  all  condemnatory  sentences  is 
guaranteed  exclusively  for  the  benefit  of  the  person  condemned. 

Par.  Special  laws  shall  determine  the  cases  and  manner  of 
revision. 

25  The  right  of  property  is  guaranteed  except  beyond  the 
limits  established  by  law. 

26  The  right  to  exercise  any  kind  of  labor,  culture  or  com- 
merce is  guaranteed  except  in  cases  where  it  is  restricted  by 
law  for  public  utility. 


266  Constitutional  Government 


Par.  Only  the  Legislative  Power  and  Administrative  Corps 
in  the  cases  recognized  as  public  utility,  shall  confer  the  ex- 
clusive right  of  any  commercial  or  industrial  exploitation. 

27  No  one  is  compelled  to  pay  contributions  which  have 
not  been  voted  by  the  Legislative  Power  or  Administrative  Corps, 
legally  authorized  to  enact  them,  and  the  collection  of  which  is 
not  made  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  the  law. 

28  The  secrecy  of  correspondence  is  inviolable. 

29  The  right  of  public  assistance  is  recognized. 

30  Every  citizen  may  present  to  the  Legislative  or  Execu- 
tive Authorities,  claims,  complaints,  or  petitions,  or  expose  any 
violation  of  the  Constitution,  and  without  the  necessity  of  pre- 
vious authorization,  may  require  that  the  proper  authorities  make 
effective  the  responsibility  of  the  offenders. 

31  Habeas  Corpus  shall  be  granted  whenever  the  indi- 
vidual suffers  or  is  in  eminent  danger  of  suffering  violence  or 
coercion,  because  of  illegality  or  abuse  of  power. 

The  guarantee  of  Habeas  Corpus  shall  only  be  suspended  in 
such  cases  as,  a  state  of  riot,  rebellion,  conspiracy  or  foreign 
invasion. 

A  special  law  shall  regulate  the  extension  of  this  guarantee 
and  its  process. 

32  The  position  of  any  employee  of  the  State,  administra- 
tive bodies  or  companies,  having  contracts  with  the  State,  is 
guaranteed,  with  its  inherent  rights,  during  military  service  to 
which  they  may  be  compelled. 

33  The  civil  status  of  citizens  and  their  registration  shall 
be  under  the  exclusive  supervision  of  the  civil  authorities. 

34  If  any  criminal  sentence  is  enforced,  and  it  shall  after- 
wards be  proved,  by  competent  legal  means,  that  the  condem- 
nation was  unjust,  the  condemned  or  his  heirs,  shall  have  the 
right  of  suing  for  damages  and  loss,  and  after  sentence  being 
passed  under  the  terms  of  law,  the  damages  shall  be  paid  by  the 
National  Treasury. 

35  Except  in  the  cases  named  by  law,  no  one,  even  though 
they  be  in  an  abnormal  state  of  their  mental  faculties,  shall  be 
deprived  of  their  personal  liberty,  without  previously  having 
judicial  authorization,  unless  it  be  a  case  of  immediate  necessity, 
duly  proved  and  for  which  shall  be  necessary,  immediate  judicial 
comfirmation. 

36  Any  person  interned  or  held  in  an  insane  asylum,  may 
himself,  or  legal  representative,  or  any  relative,  or  friend,  at 
any  time,  require  the  judge  to  make  the  necessary  investigations, 
and  grant  his  liberty  if  the  case  so  requires. 

37  It  shall  be  lawful  for  all  citizens  to  resist  any  order 


Constitutional  Government  267 


that  threatens  their  individual  guarantees,  if  they  are  not  legally 
suspended. 

38  None  of  the  Powers  of  State  can  separate,  or  con- 
junctively, suspend  the  Constitution,  or  restrict  the  rights  stated 
thereof,  except  in  such  cases  as  are  specifically  mentioned  in  it. 

Art.  4  The  specification  of  guarantees  and  rights,  given 
under  this  Constitution,  does  not  exclude  other  guarantees  and 
rights  not  enumerated,  but  resulting  from  the  form  of  government 
that  it  establishes  and  of  the  principles  consigned  or  resulting 
from  other  laws. 

title  in 
Sovereignty  and  Power  of  State. 

Art.  5     The  sovereignty  is  vested  essentially  in  the  Nation. 

Art.  6  The  organs  of  National  Sovereignty  are,  the  Legis- 
lative Power,  the  Executive  Power,  and  the  Judicial  Power,  in- 
dependent and  harmonious'  in  themselves. 

SECTION    1 

Legislative  Power. 

Art.  7  The  Legislative  Power  is  vested  in  the  Congress 
of  the  Republic,  formed  by  the  two  Houses,  under  the  name 
of  House  of  Deputies  and  Senate. 

Par.  1  The  members  of  Congress  are  the  representatives 
of  the  Nation  and  not  of  the  electoral  colleges  that  elect  them. 

Par.  2  No  one  may  be  at  the  same  time  member  of  the  two 
Houses. 

Par.  3  No  one  may  be  Senator  if  he  be  less  than  thirty-five 
years  of  age  nor  Deputy  if  less  than  twenty-five  years. 

Art.  8  The  House  of  Deputies  and  Senate  are  elected  by 
the  direct  suffrage  of  the  elector  citizens. 

Par.  The  organization  of  the  electoral  colleges  of  the  two 
Houses  and  the  process  of  election  shall  be  regulated  by  special 
law. 

Art.  9  The  Senate  shall  be  formed  of  as  many  Senators 
as  may  result  from  the  election  of  three  persons  for  each  con- 
tinental district,  and  adjacent  islands,  and  of  one  person  for 
each  ultramarine  province. 

Par.  For  the  election  of  Senators  in  each  continental  dis- 
trict and  adjacent  islands,  their  respective  lists  shall  contain  only 
two  names. 

Art.  10  For  the  election  of  the  House  of  Deputies  and 
Senate  the  electoral  colleges  shall  meet  by  their  own  right,  if 


268  Constitutional  Government. 

they  are  not  duly  called  to  a  meeting  before  the  end  of  term 
of  the  legislature  and  in  the  time  that  the  law  designates. 

Art.  ii  The  Congress  of  the  Republic  meets  at  the  Capitol 
of  the  Nation  on  the  2nd  day  of  December  of  each  year.  The 
legislative  session  shall  hold  meetings  during  a  period  of  four 
months,  which  may  be  prolonged  or  postponed  by  proper  delib- 
eration of  both  Houses  in  joint  session. 

Art.  12  The  Congress  may  be  called  to  an  extraordinary 
session  by  one  fourth  of  its  members  or  by  the  Executive  Power. 

Art.  13  The  opening  and  closing  of  the  two  houses  shall 
be  on  the  same  day,  but  they  shall  work  separately  in  public 
sessions  unless  a  resolution  is  passed  to  the  contrary. 

The  decisions  shall  be  taken  by  the  majority  of  votes,  if 
there  be  present  in  each  house  the  absolute  majority  of  members. 

Par.  Each  one  of  the  Houses  shall  verify  and  recognize 
the  powers  of  its  members,  elect  its  officers,  organize  its  internal 
Regulations,  regulate  its  police  power  and  name  its  employees. 

Art.  14  The  joint  sessions  of  the  two  Houses  shall  be 
presided  over  by  the  senior  of  the  Presidents. 

Art.  15  The  Deputies  and  Senators  are  inviolable  in  their 
opinions  and  votes,  that  they  may  express  during  the  exercise 
of  their  functions.  Their  vote  is  free  and  independent  of  any 
outside  insinuations  and  instructions. 

Art.  16  During  the  exercise  of  the  legislative  functions,  no 
member  of  Congress  shall  be  juror,  appraiser,  or  witness  without 
the  authorization  of  his  respective  House. 

Art.  17  No  Deputy,  or  Senator  shall  be,  or  kept  im- 
prisoned, during  the  period  of  sessions,  without  previous  license 
of  his  House,  except,  if  he  be  detected  in  an  act  to  which  a 
greater  sentence  is  applicable,  or  its  equivalent  in  the  penal  scale. 

Art.  18  If  a  Deputy,  or  Senator  is  criminally  prosecuted, 
and  the  prosecution  carried  until  the  final  decision,  the  judge 
shall  consult  the  respective  House,  which  shall  decide  whether 
the  Deputy,  or  Senator  shall  be  suspended  and  the  prosecution 
carried  out  during  the  interval  of  sessions,  or  after  the  offender 
has  finished  his  functions. 

Art.  19  The  members  of  Congress  shall  receive  during  the 
sessions,  a  compensation  which  shall  be  fixed  by  the  National 
Constituent  Assembly. 

Art.  20  No  member  of  Congress,  shall  after  his  election, 
make  contracts  with  the  Executive  Power,  nor  accept  from  this, 
or  any  foreign  government  paid  employment,  or  subsidized  com- 
mission. 

Par.  1  The  following  exceptions  shall  be  made  on  the  pre- 
ceding article. 

1     Diplomatic  missions. 


Constitutional  Government  269 


2  Military  commands  or  commissions  and  the  commissariats 
of  the  Republic  in  the  Ultramarine  Possessions. 

3  Promotive  offices  and  legal  promotions. 

4  The  nominations  that  are  lawfully  made  by  the  Govern- 
ment after  the  necessary  examinations,  or  by  proposal  made  by 
the  individuals  who  have  the  legal  right  to  indicate  or  choose 
the  officers  to  be  nominated. 

Par.  2  No  Deputy  or  Senator  shall  accept  nominations  for 
the  missions,  commands  or  commissions,  given  under  parts  I 
and  2  of  the  previous  paragraph,  without  permission  of  his  house, 
if  by  accepting  he  is  not  able  to  perform  his  legislative  duties, 
unless  it  be  a  case  of  war  or  one  in  which  the  honor  and  integrity 
of  the  Nation  is  at  stake. 

Art.  21  No  Deputy  or  Senator  shall  serve,  in  the  admin- 
istrative councils,  as  manager  or  superintendent  of  enterprises 
or  societies  constituted  by  special  contract  or  concession  of  the 
State,  or  which  receive  from  same,  privileges  not  conceded  by 
generic  law,  compensation  or  guarantee  of  income  (except  those 
which  by  delegation  of  the  Government  represent  the  interests 
of  the  State)  neither  shall  he  be  concessionary,  contractor  or 
member  of  contracting  firms  of  concessions,  auctions  or  public 
work  by  contract  or  financial  operations  with  the  State. 

Par.  The  unobservance  of  the  precepts  contained  in  this 
and  preceding  article,  shall  be  punished  by  loss  of  mandate  and 
abrogation  of  the  acts  and  contracts  referred  to  therein. 


The  House  of  Deputies. 

Art  22  The  Deputies  shall  be  elected  for  a  term  of  three 
years. 

Par.  The  Deputy  elected  to  fill  a  vacancy  by  death  or  any 
other  reason  shall  only  exercise  his  duties  until  the  end  of  that 
legislation. 

Art.  23  The  House  of  Deputies  shall  have  the  right  of 
initiative  on  the  following: 

a    Taxes. 

b     The  organization  of  land  and  sea  forces. 

c  The  discussion  of  the  proposals  made  by  the  Executive 
Power. 

d  The  impeachment  of  members  of  the  Executive  Power, 
for  crimes  of  responsibility  committed  in  that  quality,  according 
to  the  terms  given  under  this  Constitution. 

e    The  revision  of  the  Constitution. 

/  The  prorogation  and  postponement  of  the  legislative 
session. 


270  Constitutional  Government 


The  Senate. 

Art.  24    The  Senators  are  elected  for  a  term  of  six  years. 

Whenever  it  shall  be  necessary  to  proceed  with  the  general 
elections  of  Deputies,  half  of  the  members  of  the  Senate  shall 
be  renewed. 

Par.  1  For  the  first  renovation  of  the  Senate,  constituted 
in  this  manner,  chance  shall  decide  from  what  districts  and 
Ultramarine  Provinces  the  Senators  must  be  replaced,  and  in  the 
subsequent  elections  it  must  be  decided  by  the  time  in  which 
the  election  took  place. 

Par.  2  The  Senator  elected  to  fill  a  vacancy  caused  by  death 
or  any  other  reason  shall  only  occupy  this  post  during  the  time 
left  the  substituted. 

Art.  25  The  Senate  shall  have  the  right  to  approve  or  veto, 
by  secret  vote,  the  proposals  for  the  nomination  of  governors 
and  commissaries  of  the  Republic  for  the  Ultramarine  Provinces. 

Par.  If  Congress  is  not  in  session  the  Executive  Power 
shall  make  these  nominations  given  in  the  preceding  article  but 
they  shall  only  be  temporary. 


Duties  of  the  Congress  of  the  Republic. 

Art.  26    The  Congress  of  the  Republic  shall  have  power: 

1  To  enact  laws,  interpret,  suspend  and  revoke  them. 

2  To  see  that  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  are  observed 
and  to  promote  the  general  welfare  of  the  country. 

3  To  estimate  the  revenue  and  fix  the  annual  expense  of 
the  Republic;  to  take  account  of  the  revenue  and  expense  of 
each  financial  enterprise  and  vote  taxes  annually. 

4  To  authorize  the  Executive  Power  to  contract  loans  and 
other  operations  of  credit,  if  they  are  not  of  a  fluctuating  debt, 
having  previously  established  or  approved  the  conditions  in  which 
they  must  be  made. 

5  To  regulate  the  payment  of  the  internal  and  external  debt. 

6  To  decide  the  organization  of  National  defense. 

7  To  create  or  abolish  public  offices,  and  to  increase  or 
decrease  their  salaries. 

8  To  establish  and  abolish  custom  houses. 

9  To  determine  the  weight,  value,  inscription,  type  and 
denomination  of  coins. 

10  To  fix  the  standard  of  weights  and  measures. 

11  To  create  banks  of  emission  and  regulate  output  of 
same  and  to  pay  tribute. 

12  To  decide  the  limits  of  the  territories  of  the  Nation. 


Constitutional  Government  271 


13  To  fix,  under  the  terms  of  special  laws,  the  limits  of 
administrative  divisions,  and  decide  on  their  general  organization. 

14  To  authorize  the  Executive  Power  to  make  war,  if  the 
question  cannot  be  settled  by  arbitration  or  after  same  has  failed, 
except  in  a  case  of  eminent  or  effective  peril  from  foreign  forces, 
and  to  make  peace. 

15  To  decide  definitely  on  treaties  and  conventions. 

16  To  declare  martial  law,  with  total  or  partial  suspension 
of  constitutional  guarantees,  in  one  or  more  places  of  the  Na- 
tional Territory,  in  case  of  imminent  or  effective  peril  from 
foreign  forces,  or  in  case  of  internal  trouble. 

Par.  1  If  Congress  is  not  in  session  the  Executive  Power 
shall  have  this  right. 

Par.  2  The  Executive  Power  shall,  during  the  time  that 
martial  law  exists,  as  a  preventive  measure  in  cases  of  arrest, 
hold  these  prisoners  in  a  special  place  not  used  by  common 
criminals. 

Par.  3  Once  Congress  is  in  session,  within  thirty  days, 
which  it  can  do  of  its  own  right,  the  Executive  Power  shall 
present  a  report  of  the  measures  taken,  giving  the  motive  for 
same  and  for  the  abuse  of  which  the  respective  authorities  shall 
be  held  responsible. 

17  To  organize  the  Judicial  Power  under  the  terms  of 
the  present  Constitution. 

18  To  grant  amnesty. 

19  To  elect  the  President  of  the  Republic. 

20  To  depose  the  President  of  the  Republic  under  the 
terms  of  this  Constitution. 

21  To  deliberate  the  revision  of  the  Constitution  before 
the  limit  of  ten  years  is  over,  under  the  terms  of  Par.  1  of 
Article  82. 

22  To  regulate  the  administration  of  the  National  wealth. 

23  To  decree  the  expenditure  of  the  National  wealth. 

24  To  sanction  the  regulations  passed  for  the  execution 
of  laws. 

25  To  continue  exercising  their  legislative  duties,  after 
the  services  of  that  legislation  are  at  an  end,  if  for  any  reason 
the  election  did  not  take  place  on  the  appointed  day. 

Par.  This  extension  of  duties  shall  last  until  the  elections, 
which  are  to  send  new  members  into  the  Congress,  take  place. 

Art.  27  The  authorizations  conceded  by  the  Legislative 
Power  cannot  be  made  use  of  more  than  once. 


272  Constitutional  Government 


Initiative,  Formation  and  Promulgation  of  Lazvs  of  Resolutions. 

Art.  28  The  initiative  on  all  projects  of  law  shall  belong 
indifferently  to  any  member  of  Congress  of  the  Executive  Power, 
saving  the  exceptions  specified  in  Article  23. 

Art.  29  Any  project  of  law  adopted  by  one  of  the  Houses 
must  be  submitted  to  the  other,  and  on  it  being  approved  by  the 
latter,  it  shall  then  be  sent  to  the  President  of  the  Republic  to 
be  issued  as  a  law. 

Art.  30  The  formula  for  issuing  a  law  is  as  follows :  "In 
the  name  of  the  Nation,  the  Congress  of  the  Republic  decrees, 
and  I  issue,  the  following  law  (or  resolution). 

Art.  31  The  President  of  the  Republic  as  head  of  the 
Executive  Power,  shall  issue  any  project  of  law  inside  of  fifteen 
days,  from  the  date  of  its  presentation.  If  his  decision  is  not 
given  during  the  time  specified,  his  silence  shall  be  equivalent 
to  the  enactment  of  the  law. 

Art.  32  The  project  of  law  approved  by  one  House  shall 
be  sent  to  the  other.  The  latter  must  give  its  decision,  at  the 
latest,  in  the  first  legislative  session  after  the  one  in  which  it 
was  approved.  In  case  this  is  not  done  the  text  approved  by 
the  House  which  initiated  the  project  shall  be  promulgated  as 
law. 

Art.  33  The  project  of  one  House  amended  by  the  other 
shall  return  to  the  first,  and  the  changes  being  approved,  it  shall 
then  be  sent  as  amended,  to  the  President  of  the  Republic  for 
promulgation. 

If  the  initiative  House  does  not  approve  the  amendments 
made,  these,  together  with  the  project,  shall  be  submitted  to  dis- 
cussion and  vote  of  the  Houses  in  joint  session. 

The  text  approved  shall  be  sent  to  the  President  of  the 
Republic,  who  will  issue  it  as  law. 

Art.  34  In  case  one  of  the  Houses  simply  rejects  a  project 
already  approved  by  the  other,  the  two  Houses  shall  then  come 
together  for  a  vote  and  discussion,  just  as  if  the  project  had 
been  amended  and  not  rejected. 

Art.  35  The  projects  rejected  definitely  shall  not  be  brought 
up  again  in  the  same  legislative  session. 

SECTION   11 
Executive  Power. 

Art.  36  The  Executive  Power  shall  be  vested  in  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Republic  and  his  Ministers. 

Art.  37  The  President  of  the  Republic  represents  the  Na- 
tion in  its  general  relations  of  State,  both  internal  and  external. 


Constitutional  Government  273 


Election  of  the  President  of  the  Republic. 

Art.  38  The  election  of  the  President  of  the  Republic  shall 
take  place  in  a  special  session  of  Congress,  meeting  by  their  own 
right,  60  days  before  the  end  of  each  presidential  period. 

Par.  1  The  ballot  shall  be  secret  and  the  election  by  two- 
thirds  vote  of  the  members  of  the  Houses  of  Congress  in  joint 
session. 

If  none  of  the  candidates  receive  this  majority  the  election 
will  continue.  On  the  third  vote  only  the  two  candidates  who 
have  received  the  greater  number  of  votes  shall  participate,  and 
the  one  receiving  the  greater  number  will  be  elected. 

§2  In  case  of  a  presidential  vacancy,  by  death  or  any  other 
cause,  the  two  Houses  united  as  the  Congress  of  the  Republic 
shall  proceed  immediately  with  the  election  of  a  new  President, 
who  shall  exercise  his  duties  until  the  end  of  that  presidential 
period. 

§  3  While  the  elections  referred  to  in  the  preceding  para- 
graphs do  not  take  place,  or  if,  for  any  reason  there  is  any 
transient  obstacle  in  the  exercise  of  the  presidential  functions, 
the  full  rights  of  the  Executive  Power  shall  be  jointly  vested  in 
the  Ministers. 

39  To  be  elected  President  of  the  Republic  the  following 
qualifications  are  necessary :  to  have  attained  the  age  of  35  years 
and  be  a  Portuguese  citizen  in  full  enjoyment  of  all  his  civil 
and  political  rights  and  must  be  born  in  the  Portuguese  Terri- 
tory. 

40  The  following  are  ineligible  for  the  post  of  President 
of  the  Republic : 

(a)  Members  of  the  families  who  reigned  in  Portugal. 

(b)  Consanguineous  relatives  or  in  the  1st  or  2nd  degree, 
by  civil  right,  of  the  President  who  is  leaving,  but  this  only  re- 
fers to  the  first  election  posterior  to  his  leaving. 

41  If  the  President  elect  is  a  member  of  Congress,  he  loses 
immediately,  by  virtue  of  this  election,  his  rights  as  a  Congress- 
man. 

42  The  President  shall  be  elected  for  a  period  of  four 
years  and  cannot  be  re-elected  for  the  ensuing  period. 

Par.  The  President  shall  leave  his  post  on  the  last  day  of 
his  period  in  office,  the  elected  taking  his  place  immediately. 

43  In  taking  charge  of  his  post,  the  President  will  pro- 
nounce, in  a  joint  session  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress,  un- 
der the  presidency  of  the  oldest  President,  the  following  declara- 
tion: 

I  solemnly  declare,  on  my  honor,  to  maintain  and  keep  with 
loyalty  and  fidelity  the  Constitution  of  the  Republic,  observe  the 


274  Constitutional  Government 


laws,  promote  the  welfare  of  the  Country,  and  to  sustain  and 
defend  the  integrity  and  the  independence  of  the  Portuguese 
Nation. 

Art.  44  The  President  cannot  leave  the  national  territory 
without  permission  of  Congress  under  the  penalty  of  losing  his 
post. 

Art.  45  The  President  shall  receive  a  compensation  which 
will  be  fixed  before  his  election  and  cannot  be  changed  during 
his  time  in  office. 

Par.  None  of  the  properties  of  the  Nation,  not  even  the 
one  where  the  office  of  the  President  of  the  Republic  is  situated, 
can  be  utilized  for  the  personal  use  of  the  President  or  mem- 
bers of  his  family. 

Art.  46  The  President  may  be  deposed  by  the  two  Houses, 
sitting  as  the  Congress,  if  a  resolution  is  passed,  founded  and 
approved  by  two-thirds  of  the  members,  which  must  state  clearly 
the  deposition,  or  he  may  be  impeached  for  a  crime  of  respon- 
sibility. 


Powers  of  the  President  of  the  Republic. 

Art.  47     The  President  of  the  Republic  shall  have  the  right: 

1  To  nominate  the  Ministers  from  the  Portuguese  Citizens 
eligible  and  to  dismiss  them. 

2  To  convene  Congress  in  extraordinary  session,  when  the 
welfare  of  the  Country  so  requires. 

3  To  promulgate  and  make  public  the  laws  and  resolutions 
of  Congress,  dispatching  the  decrees,  instructions  and  regula- 
tions, regarding  the  good  execution  of  the  same. 

4  To  fill  all  civil  and  military  posts  on  proposal  of  his 
Ministers,  and  to  discharge,  suspend  and  depose  the  respective 
functionaries,  the  latter  having  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  com- 
petent courts. 

5  To  represent  the  Nation  in  foreign  countries,  and  to  di- 
rect the  external  policy  of  the  Republic,  without  interfering  with 
the  functions  of  Congress. 

6  To  declare,  after  agreeing  with  his  Ministers,  and  for 
a  period  not  exceeding  thirty  days,  martial  law  in  any  point 
of  the  national  territory,  in  cases  of  foreign  hostilities,  or  grave 
riots,  under  the  terms  of  Paragraphs  1,  2  and  3  of  No.  16  of 
Article  26  of  this  Constitution. 

7  To  make  commercial  treaties,  peace  and  arbitration,  and 
adjust  other  international  conventions,  submitting  them  to  the 
approval  of  Congress. 

Par.     The  alliance  treaties  shall  be  submitted  to  Congress, 


Constitutional  Government  275 


in  a  secret  session,  if  it  is  so  asked  by  two-thirds  of  the  mem- 
bers. 

8  To  grant  pardons  and  commute  punishments. 

9  To  provide  for  everything  that  regards  the  internal  and 
external  safety  of  the  State,  as  per  this  Constitution. 

Art.  48  The  powers  referred  to  in  the  previous  article 
shall  be  exercised  through  the  Ministers  and  under  the  terms 
of  article  49. 


The  Ministers. 

Art.  49  All  the  acts  of  the  President  of  the  Republic  shall 
be  countersigned,  at  least  by  the  competent  Minister.  If  this  is 
not  done,  they  shall  be  void  of  all  power,  and  cannot  be  given 
execution  and  no  one  will  have  to  obey  them. 

Art.  50  The  Ministers  cannot  hold  another  public  office, 
nor  shall  they  be  elected  for  the  Presidency  of  the  Republic 
unless  they  have  resigned  from  the  Ministry  six  months  before 
the  elections. 

Par.  1  The  members  of  Congress  who  accept  the  post  of 
minister  shall  not  lose  their  mandate. 

Par.  2  The  prohibitions  and  other  dispositions  given  un- 
der article  21  and  its  paragraph  shall  be  applicable  to  the  Minis- 
ters. 

Art.  51  Each  Minister  shall  be  responsible,  politically,  civ- 
illy and  criminally  for  the  acts  that  he  legalizes  or  practices. 

The  Ministers  shall  be  tried  for  crimes  of  responsibility  in 
the  ordinary  courts. 

Art.  52  The  Ministers  should  appear  in  the  sessions  of 
Congress,  and  shall  always  have  the  right  of  a  hearing  in  de- 
fense of  their  acts. 

Art.  53  One  of  the  Ministers,  who  will  be  nominated  also 
by  the  President,  shall  be  president  of  the  Ministry  and  will  an- 
swer not  only  for  acts  under  his  own  supervision  but  also  for 
those  of  general  policy. 

Art.  54  In  the  first  fifteen  days  of  January,  the  Minister 
of  Finances  will  present  to  the  House  of  Deputies  the  General 
Budget  of  the  State. 


*&- 


Crimes  of  Responsibility. 

Art.  55     Crimes  of  responsibility  are  the  acts  that  the  Ex- 
ecutive Power  and  its  agents  perform : 

1     Against  the  political  existence  of  the  Nation; 


276  Constitutional  Government 


2  Against  the  Constitution  and  the  democratic  republican 
regime ; 

3  Against  the  free  exercise  of  the  Powers  of  State; 

4  Against  the  enjoyment  and  exercise  of  political  and  in- 
dividual rights; 

5  Against  the  internal  safety  of  the  country ; 

6  Against  the  integrity  of  the  administration; 

7  Against  the  keeping  and  constitutional  use  of  public 
moneys ; 

8  Against  the  laws  of  the  budget  voted  by  Congress. 
Par.    i     The  impeachment   for  any  of  these  crimes   shall 

result  in  the  loss  of  post  and  the  incapacity  of  holding  another 
public  office. 

Par.  2  The  President  of  the  Republic  is  not  responsible 
for  the  acts  of  the  administration  or  of  the  Ministers  or  their 
agents,  being  only  responsible  for  the  crimes  indicated  in  Nos. 
I,  2,  3,  4  and  5  of  this  article. 


SECTION    III. 

Judicial  Power. 

Art.  56  The  Judicial  Power  of  the  Republic  shall  be  com- 
posed of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Justice  and  the  courts  of  first 
and  second  instance. 

Par.  The  Supreme  Court  of  Justice  shall  have  its  seat  in 
Lisbon.  The  courts  of  first  and  second  instance  shall  be  dis- 
tributed through  the  country,  according  to  the  needs  of  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice. 

Art.  57  The  judges  belonging  to  the  judicial  magistracy 
shall  hold  office  for  life  and  are  irremovable;  the  nominations, 
resignations,  promotions,  transference  and  positions  outside  of 
this  body  shall  be  made  under  the  terms  of  the  organic  law  of 
the  Judicial  Power. 

Art.  58     The  trial  by  jury  shall  be  maintained. 

Art.  59  The  intervention  of  a  jury  shall  be  optional  to  the 
parties  in  civil  and  commercial  cases,  but  it  will  be  obligatory  in 
criminal  cases,  when  to  such  cases,  shall  have  to  be  applied  a 
heavier  sentence  than  correctional  imprisonment  and  when  the 
offense  is  of  a  political  character. 

Art.  60  The  judges  shall  not  be  responsible  for  their  de- 
cisions. 

Art.  61  No  judge  shall  accept  from  the  government  re- 
munerative functions.  When  it  is  so  needed  by  the  public  serv- 
ice, the  Government  -may  request  the  judges  they  think  neces- 


Constitutional  Government  277 


sary  for  any  permanent  or  temporary  commissions.  These  nom- 
inations shall  be  made  under  the  terms  that  the  respective  or- 
ganic law  determines. 

Art.  62  The  sentences  and  orders  of  the  Judicial  Power 
shall  be  executed  by  private  judicial  officers,  who  shall  be  helped 
by  the  competent  authorities  when  they  ask  for  it. 

Art.  63  Whenever,  in  the  cases  which  are  up  for  trial,  any 
of  the  parties  question  the  validity  of  the  law  or  the  diplomas 
issued  by  the  Executive  Power  or  of  the  corporations  with  pub- 
lic authority  that  have  been  called  upon,  the  Judicial  Power  shall 
investigate  the  constitutional  legitimacy  of  same,  and  whether  it 
conforms  with  the  Constitution  and  the  principles  therein. 

Art.  64  The  President  of  the  Republic  shall  be  tried  and 
sentenced  in  the  common  courts,  for  the  crimes  he  commits. 

Par.  When  the  final  decision  and  sentence  has  been  passed, 
the  judge  shall  communicate  with  Congress  who,  in  joint  ses- 
sion of  the  two  Houses,  will  decide  whether  the  sentence  shall 
be  passed  immediately  or  whether  they  will  wait  until  the  Pres- 
idential term  is  over. 

Art.  65  If  a  Minister  is  tried  criminally  until  a  final  deci- 
sion is  given,  the  judge  will  communicate  it  to  the  House  of  Dep- 
uties, who  will  decide  if  the  Minister  must  be  suspended  and 
the  trial  continue  during  the  interval  of  the  sessions  or  after  the 
functions  of  the  defendant  are  over. 


TITLE  rv 

Local  Administrative  Institutions. 

Art.  66  The  organization  and  powers  of  the  administrative 
corps  shall  be  regulated  by  special  laws  and  will  be  based  on  the 
following : 

1  The  Executive  Power  shall  not  interfere  with  the  busi- 
ness of  the  administrative  corps. 

2  The  decisions  of  the  administrative  corps  may  be  modi- 
fied or  annulled  by  the  litigious  courts  when  they  offend  the  laws 
and  regulations  of  general  order. 

3  The  district  and  municipal  powers  shall  be  divided  in 
deliberative  and  executive,  under  the  terms  that  the  law  pre- 
scribes. 

4  The  exercise  of  referendum,  under  the  terms  determined 
by  law. 

5  The  representation  of  the  minority  in  the  administrative 
corps. 

6  Financial  autonomy  of  the  administrative  corps,  under 
the  terms  determined  by  law. 


278  Constitutional  Government 

TITLE  v 

Administration  of  the  Ultramarine  Provinces. 

Art.  67  In  the  administration  of  the  ultramarine  provinces, 
the  regime  of  decentralization  will  predominate,  with  special  laws 
adapted  to  the  state  of  civilization  of  each  one. 

TITLE  VI 

General  Dispositions 

Art.  68  Every  Portuguese  citizen  is  obliged  to  military 
service,  according  to  his  abilities,  to  sustain  the  independence 
and  integrity  of  the  Nation  and  the  Constitution,  and  to  defend 
them  against  tjieir  internal  and  external  enemies. 

Art.  69  The  public  force  is  bound  to  render  unconditional 
obedience,  and  cannot  formulate  petitions  or  collective  represen- 
tations, nor  hold  meetings,  unless  with  permission  or  order  of 
the  competent  authority.    The  armed  corps  cannot  deliberate. 

Art.  70  Special  laws  shall  regulate  the  organization  and 
administration  of  the  military  forces  of  land  and  sea  in  all  the 
territory  of  the  Republic. 

Art.  71  For  the  condemned  for  electoral  crimes  and  of- 
fenses, there  shall  be  no  pardon,  but  the  House  in  whose  elec- 
tion these  crimes  or  offenses  were  committed,  may  take  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  concession  of  amnesty,  when  it  is  so  voted  by 
two-thirds  of  its  members  and  only  when  the  condemned  has 
paid  half  of  the  penalty,  when  the  same  is  prison.  The  amnesty 
does  not  include  the  costs  and  stamps  of  the  trial  nor  the  fines 
or  the  attorney  fees. 

Art.  J2  The  crimes  of  responsibility,  referred  to  in  article 
55,  shall  be  defined  by  special  law. 

Art.  73  The  Portuguese  Republic  without  interfering  with 
its  treaties  of  alliance,  holds  the  principles  of  arbitration  as  the 
best  way  to  settle  international  questions. 

Art.  74  Portuguese  Citizens,  to  be  able  to  exercise  their 
political  rights,  must  be  considered  as  such  by  the  civil  law. 

Par.  The  loss  and  regulation  of  the  Portuguese  citizenship 
shall  also  be  regulated  by  the  civil  law. 

Art.  75  To  those  who,  on  the  date  of  the  promulgation 
of  this  Constitution,  are  serving  in  the  army  or  the  navy,  shall 
be  assured  the  right  of  a  military  medal,  under  the  terms  and 
regulations  of  the  respective  laws. 

Par.  The  pensions  that,  up  to  the  present  have  been  given 
to  those  decorated  with  the  Order  of  Torre  e  Espada  shall  be 
maintained. 


Constitutional  Government  279 


Art.  76  The  medal  of  merit,  philanthropy,  generosity  and 
that  for  good  service  in  the  Colonies  shall  be  maintained. 

Art.  77c  The  Congress  in  some  of  its  annual  sessions  shall 
discuss  exclusively  the  local  interests  and  reclamations  made  to 
the  Executive  Power  by  the  administrative  corps,  when  it  is  re- 
garding certain  things  in  which  the  State  must  interfere. 

Art.  78  A  special  law  shall  fix  the  cases  and  conditions  in 
which  the  State  is  to  give  pensions  to  the  families  of  the  military 
killed  in  the  service  of  the  Republic,  or  the  military  rendered 
useless  in  such  service. 

Art.  79  The  diplomas  given  for  civic  deeds  and  military 
acts  may  be  accompanied  by  medals. 

Art.  80  The  laws  and  decrees  in  existence  shall  continue 
in  force,  until  they  are  revoked  or  revised  by  the  Legislative 
Power,  if  they  are  not  explicit  or  implicitly  against  the  form  of 
Government  adopted  by  this  Constitution  and  its  principles. 

Art.  81  When  this  Constitution  is  approved,  it  shall  be  im- 
mediately decreed  and  promulgated  by  the  Presidency  of  the 
National  Constituent  Assembly  and  signed  by  its  members. 


TITLE  VII 
Constitutional  Revision 

Art.  82  The  Constitution  of  the  Portuguese  Republic  shall 
be  revised  every  ten  years,  counting  from  the  promulgation  of 
same,  and  for  this  work  the  Congress  in  session  at  the  time  set  for 
this  revision  shall  be  vested  with  constituent  powers. 

Par.  1  The  revision  may  take  place  five  years  before  the 
time,  if  this  is  approved  by  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  Con- 
gress in  joint  session  of  the  two  Houses. 

Par.  2  Proposals  for  constitutional  revision  which  do  not 
state  clearly  the  changes  projected,  or  those  which  have  in  view 
the  abolishment  of  the  Republican  form  of  government,  cannot 
be  admitted  for  discussion. 

Transitory  Dispositions. 

Art.  83  The  first  President  of  the  Portuguese  Republic 
shall  be  elected  in  a  special  session  to  be  held  three  days  after  the 
approval  of  this  Constitution  by  the  National  Constituent  As- 
sembly and  after  his  salary  has  been  decided. 

The  election  shall  be  secret  and  by  majority  of  the  members 
of  the  National  Constituent  Assembly,  their  powers  having  been 
verified  on  the  eve  of  the  election. 


280  Constitutional  Government 


If  after  the  second  vote  has  been  taken,  there  is  not  an  ab- 
solute majority,  the  third  will  be  by  relative  majority  between 
the  two  candidates  who  received  the  greater  number  of  votes 
on  the  second. 

The  first  presidential  period  shall  end  on  the  5th  day  of  Oc- 
tober of  1915. 

Par.  For  this  election  there  shall  not  be  the  incompatibil- 
ity referred  to  in  article  50  of  this  Constitution. 

Art.  84  In  the  first  session  after  the  election  of  the  Pres- 
ident of  the  Republic  the  election  of  the  Senate  will  take  place. 

Par.  1  The  first  Senators  shall  be  taken  from  the  Deputies 
of  the  National  Constituent  Assembly  who  have  reached  the 
age  of  thirty  years.  Seventy-one  will  be  chosen,  and  the  other 
members  of  the  National  Constituent  Assembly  will  form  the 
first  House  of  Deputies. 

Par.  2  The  choice  of  Senators  by  the  National  Constituent 
Assembly  will  be  made  in  four  elections,  the  first  three  with  a 
list  of  twenty-one  names  and  the  last  with  eight  names.  In  the 
first  three  lists  there  shall  be  a  representative  from  all  the  dis- 
tricts, if  the  Deputies  of  these  districts  conform  to  the  conditions 
of  this  article. 

Par.  3  The  terms  of  the  members  of  the  two  houses  shall 
end  when  a  new  Congress  has  been  instituted,  under  the  terms 
prescribed  by  this  Constitution,  after  the  legislative  session  of 
19 14  is  over. 

Art.  85  The  first  Congress  of  the  Republic  shall  enact  the 
following  laws : 

(a)  Laws  on  crimes  of  responsibility. 

(b)  Administrative  code. 

(c)  Organic  laws  of  the  ultramarine  provinces. 

(d)  Law  on  the  judiciary  organization. 

(e)  Law  regarding  public  offices. 

(f)  Law  on  political  incompatibilities. 

(g)  Electoral  law. 

Par.  The  General  Budget  of  State  and  other  urgent  meas- 
ures shall  be  discussed  in  alternate  sessions. 

Art.  86  If  any  vacancies  take  place  in  the  first  House  of 
Deputies,  these  shall  not  be  filled,  unless  the  number  of  Deputies 
becomes  less  than  one  hundred  and  thirty-five. 

The  vacancies  of  the  first  Senate  shall  be  filled  according  to 
article  84  and  its  paragraphs,  as  long  as  the  House  of  Deputies 
has  more  than  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  members. 

Art.  87  When  Congress  is  not  in  session,  the  Government 
may  take  the  necessary  and  urgent  steps  for  the  ultramarine 
provinces. 


Constitutional  Government  281 


Par.  Once  Congress  is  in  session  the  Government  shall  give 
a  report  of  the  steps  taken. 

Chamber  of  Sessions  of  the  National  Constituent  Assembly, 
on  the  21st  of  August,  191 1 :  Anselmo  Braamcamp  Freire,  Pres- 
ident; Baltasar  de  Almeida  Teixeira,  First  Secretary;  Afonso 
Henriques  de  Prado  Castro  e  Lemos,  Second  Secretary. 


Constitutional  Government  283 


CHAPTER  XII. 
FRANCE  A  REPUBLIC. 

France,  as  a  republic,  has  shown  far  more  power  and  efficiency 
as  an  opponent  to  Germany  during  the  present  war  than  she  did 
in  1870-71  as  an  empire  under  Napoleon  III.  At  no  time  dur- 
ing the  Bourbons  was  France  as  thoroughly  united,  patriotic, 
strong  and  defiant  as  during  the  present  attack  upon  her  liberty 
and  territory,  a  nation  without  a  king  or  emperor  and  existing 
under  a  representative  constitutional  government. 

Planted  on  the  extreme  west  edge  of  the  continent  of  Europe, 
which  has  been  in  a  large  measure  dominated  for  centuries  by 
czars,  emperors,  kings  and  princes,  she  resists  with  unabated 
courage  the  terrific  attack  of  the  military  forces  of  the  central- 
ized monarchical  states  of  the  German  Empire  and  despotic  dual 
monarchy  of  Austria-Hungary.  She  is  determined  that  national 
independence  and  popular  government  shall  not  perish  entirely  in 
Europe. 

France  and  her  sister  republic  Switzerland  and  the  new  repub- 
lic of  Portugal  now  stand  almost  alone  on  the  blood-stained, 
monarch-ridden  continent,  as  the  representative  of  free  govern- 
ment, while  England  and  her  free  colonies  are  doing  their  part 
in  aiding  and  supporting  France  at  this  critical  period  of  her 
existence. 

Republics  are  thoroughly  detested  and  feared  by  the  great  cen- 
tral monarchies  of  Europe,  as  indicated  by  the  Holy  Alliance, 
originally  signed  by  Prussia,  Russia  and  Austria  and  never  an- 
nulled. 

This  antipathy  will  endure  as  long  as  monarchical  govern- 
ments exist,  and  no  permanent  peace  can  be  expected  in  Europe 
until  national  independence  and  free  popular  constitutional  gov- 
ernments supplant  monarchical  institutions  and  the  people  are 
permitted  to  choose  their  own  rulers. 

Although  France  must  be  enrolled  among  the  representa- 
tive democracies  or  republics  of  this  period,  its  present  consti- 
tution is  not  in  all  respects  a  practical  and  safe  model  to  copy 
after.  It  has  a  monarchical  element  trying  to  cooperate 
with  republicanism,  the  lingering  shadow  of  imperial  and  regal 
thrones  which  have  passed  into  oblivion,  never,  it  is  hoped,  to  be 
reestablished.  These  two  adverse  elements  do  not  create  har- 
mony, but  inharmony  in  the  administration  of  a  government. 


284  Constitutional  Government 


France,  with  Corsica,  and  the  islands  of  the  coast,  without 
taking  into  account  any  of  the  separate  provinces  or  possessions 
outside  of  Europe,  contains  an  area  of  204,147  sq.  miles,  not  de- 
ducting what  Germany  has  recently  taken,  and  has  experienced 
more  sudden  changes  than  any  other  government  in  Europe 
since  the  fall  of  the  Bastile  July  14,  1789.  Since  then  there  have 
been  eleven  different  constitutions  or  formations  of  government 
following  in  rapid  succession,  varying  with  the  exigencies  of 
events. 

The  constitution  of  1791  creating  a  limited  monarchy  cur- 
tailing the  power  of  the  king,  was  expected  to  remedy  the  evil  and 
discontent  in  France  at  the  time  of  Louis  XVI.  It  contained  a 
declaration  of  "the  rights  of  man  and  citizen." 

1.  Men  are  born  free  and  remain  free  and  equal  in  rights. 
Social  distinctions  can  be  based  only  upon  public  utility. 

2.  The  aim  of  every  political  association  is  the  preservation 
of  the  natural  and  imprescriptible  rights  of  man.  These  rights 
are  liberty,  property,  security,  and  resistance  to  oppression. 

3.  The  source  of  all  sovereignty  is  essentially  in  the  nation. 
No  body,  no  individual  can  exercise  authority  that  does  not  pro- 
ceed from  it  in  plain  terms. 

4.  Liberty  consists  in  the  power  to  do  anything  that  does 
not  injure  others;  accordingly,  the  exercise  of  all  the  natural 
rights  of  each  man,  has  for  its  only  limits,  those  that  secure  to 
other  members  of  society  the  enjoyment  of  those  same  rights. 
These  limits  can  be  determined  only  by  law. 


THE  FRENCH  CONSTITUTION  OF  1791. 

"The  national  assembly,  wishing  to  establish  the  French  con- 
stitution upon  the  principles  that  it  has  just  recognized  and  de- 
clared, abolishes  irrevocably  the  institutions  that  have  injured 
liberty  and  equality  of  rights,"  the  constitution  declared : 

"There  is  no  longer  nobility,  nor  peerage,  nor  heredity  dis- 
tinction, nor  distinction  of  orders,  nor  feudal  regime,  nor  patri- 
monial jurisdictions,  nor  titles,  denominations,  or  prerogatives 
derived  therefrom,  nor  any  orders  of  chivalry,  not  any  corpora- 
tions or  decorations  which  demand  proofs  of  nobility,  or  that 
were  grounded  upon  distinctions  of  birth,  nor  any  superiority 
other  than  that  of  public  officials  in  the  exercise  of  their  func- 
tions." 

"There  is  no  longer  either  sale,  or  inheritance  of  any  public 
office." 

This  constitution  which  is  quite  lengthy  is  set  forth  in  full 
in  Anderson's  Constitutional  Documents,  France,  1789 — 1901. 


Constitutional  Government  285 


This  constitution  was  accepted  by  the  king,  Louis  XVI., 
September  13,  1791. 

After  the  execution  of  Louis  XVI.,  February  15,  1793,  the 
Committee  of  Nine  appointed  to  draft  a  constitution  adopted  an 
ultra-republican  form  of  government,  and  submitted  it  to  the 
people.  It  was  accepted  by  them.  It  was  called  the  constitution 
of  the  Year  1,  and  reiterated  the  "Declaration  of  the  Rights 
of  Man  and  Citizen." 

There  was  an  executive  council  consisting  of  24  members 
chosen  by  the  legislative  body  from  candidates  named  by  the 
secondary  electors  of  the  departments;  an  unicameral  corps  leg- 
islative chosen  indirectly  by  manhood  suffrage  for  one  year  with- 
out power  to  enact  "decrees,"  but  only  to  propose  laws ;  and  an 
arrangement  whereby  projected  laws  were  to  be  communicated  to 
private  assemblies  of  citizens  to  be  acted  upon  after  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  referendum.     (Anderson's  Constitutions,  171-182.) 

It  is  said  that  this  was  a  model  constitution,  the  best  ever 
brought  forth  from  the  throes  of  periodical  revolutions  in 
France;  but  it  was  never  put  in  force,  although  ratified  by  the 
people,  being  first  temporarily  suspended,  and  afterwards  set 
aside. 

"On  the  basis  of  a  decree  of  December  4,  1793,  the  con- 
vention maintained  through  upwards  of  two  years,  a  revolution- 
ary government,  and  when  finally,  on  October  26,  1795,  the  body 
passed  out  of  existence,  it  left  behind  it  in  the  constitution  of 
1795,  an  instrument  of  government  essentially  different  from  the 
proposed  instrument  of  1793."  (Frederick  Austin  Ogg — Gov- 
ernments of  Europe.) 

November  9,  1799,  Napoleon's  coup  d'etat  ended  the  oper- 
ation of  the  constitution  of  1795. 


THE   BRUM  AIRE   DECREE   OF    NOVEMBER,    1799- 

I.  The  Council  of  the  Five  Hundred,  considering  the  situa- 
tion of  the  Republic,  declares  urgency  and  takes  the  following 
resolution : 

The  Directoire  is  no  more,  and  the  following  named  persons, 
owing  to  the  excesses  and  the  crimes  in  which  they  have  con- 
stantly engaged,  and  especially  as  regards  the  majority  of  them 
in  the  session  of  this  morning,  are  no  longer  members  of  the  na- 
tional representation.  (Here  follow  the  names  of  61  persons.) 

By  the  coup  d'etat  of  Brumaire  the  government  of  the  Di- 
rectoire was  overthrown.  This  decree  was  passed  by  a  small 
number  of  members  of  the  Council  of  Five  Hundred  whom  Lu- 
cian  Bonaparte  gathered  about  him  after  the  dispersion  of  the 


286  Constitutional  Government 


council  by  force.     It  gave  to  the  coup  d'etat  some  semblance  of 
legal  sanction. 

References:  Fyffe,  Modern  Europe,  I,  197-207.  (Popular 
ed.   133-139.)  ;  Fournier,  Napoleon,   166-182. 

2.  The  Corps-Legislatif  creates  provisionally  a  consular 
executive  commission,  consisting  of  Citizens  Sieves,  Roger  Du- 
cos,  and  General  Bonaparte,  who  shall  bear  the  name  of  Consuls 
of  the  French  Republic. 

3.  This  commission  is  invested  with  the  plenitude  of  di- 
rectorial power  and  particularly  charged  to  organize  order  in  all 
parts  of  the  administration,  to  re-establish  internal  tranquillity 
and  to  procure  honorable  and  enduring  peace. 

4.  It  is  authorized  to  send  out  delegates  having  powers 
which  are  fixed  and  are  within  the  limits  of  its  own  powers. 

5.  The  Corps-Legislatif  adjourns  to  the  following  I  Ven- 
tose  (Feb.  20,  1800)  ;  it  shall  assemble  with  perfect  right  upon 
that  date  in  its  palace  at  Paris. 


THE   CONSTITUTION   OF   DECEMBER,    1799- 

Title  I.  Of  the  Exercise  of  the  Rights  of  Citizenship. 

i.  The  French  Republic  is  one  and  indivisible.  (See  An- 
derson 271.) 

This  constitution  was  prepared  by  Napoleon  and  Sieves, 
and  was  imposed  upon  the  two  legislative  commissions.  It  was 
submitted  to  the  people  and  accepted  by  three  million  votes 
against  fifteen  hundred. 

The  constitution  of  December  13,  1799,  contained  many  re- 
visions of  the  former  instrument  and  under  this  Napoleon  ruled 
France  until  18 14.  He  first  became  First  Consul  and  then  the 
senatus-consulta  of  August  4,  1802  proclaimed  him  First  Con- 
sul for  life;  and  on  May  18,  1804,  he  was  made  Emperor  of 
France. 

THE    SENATUS-CONSUI/TUM    OF    MAY,    1804. 

Title  I. 

1.  The  Government  of  the  French  Republic  is  intrusted  to 
an  emperor,  who  takes  the  title  of  Emperor  of  the  French. 

Justice  is  administered  in  the  name  of  the  Emperor  by  the 
officers  whom  he  appoints. 

2.  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  present  First  Consul  of  the  Repub- 
lic, is  Emperor  of  the  French. 

Title  II.     Of  the  Inheritance. 


Constitutional  Government  287 


3.  The  imperial  dignity  is  hereditary  in  the  direct  natural 
and  legitimate  lineage  of  Napoleon,  from  male  to  male,  by  order 
of  primogeniture,  and  to  the  perpetual  exclusion  of  women  and 
their  descendants. 

4.  Napoleon  Bonaparte  can  adopt  the  children  or  grand 
children  of  his  brothers  provided  they  have  fully  reached  the  age 
of  eighteen  years,  and  he  himself  has  no  male  children  at  the 
moment  of  adoption.     (See  p.  343  Anderson's  Constitution.) 

April  30th,  1803  a  treaty  was  completed  between  France  and 
the  United  States  by  which  Napoleon  Bonaparte  sold  the  entire 
territory  known  as  "Louisiana"  to  the  United  States  for  ap- 
proximately seventy-five  million  proves  without  asking  the  con- 
sent of  the  chambers  and  used  the  funds  thus  obtained  in  his 
preparation  for  an  invasion  of  England  which  never  was  ac- 
complished. 

NAPOLEON    COMPARED   WITH    WASHINGTON. 

The  circumstances  surrounding  Napoleon  in  his  ascendancy 
in  France  during  the  last  of  the  eighteenth  and  first  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  in  some  respects,  (as  monarchical  rule  had  been 
overthrown),  were  analogous  to  those  which  environed  Wash- 
ington who  first  overcame  the  enemies  of  free  government  in 
America  and  then  helped  to  establish  a  Republic. 

Napoleon  Bonaparte,  like  George  Washington,  had  the  op- 
portunity of  founding  a  representative  democracy  or  republic. 
He  possessed  the  ability  and  prestige  to  enable  him  to  draft  a 
model  constitution,  and  he  could  easily  have  gained  the  support 
of  the  nation  for  its  adoption. 

As  president  of  such  a  republic,  he  could  have  firmly  estab- 
lished a  well  organized  republican  government,  and  with  his 
executive  ability,  made  it  permanent  This  would  have  prevented 
much  of  the  misrule,  anarchy,  and  instability  which  followed  his 
overthrow.  He  organized  Switzerland  into  a  centralized  repub- 
lic, under  the  title  of  the  Helvetic  Republic,  with  a 
constitution  which  was  practically  a  copy  of  the  French  con- 
stitution of  1795,  dated  April  12,  1798.  This  was  super- 
seded by  a  new  constitution  of  July  2,  1802,  which  re-estab- 
lished the  cantonal  government.  If  Napoleon  had  created  a  sim- 
ilar constitution  for  France  it  would  have  been  better  for  that 
country  than  the  establishment  of  another  empire.  He  would 
then  have  gone  down  to  posterity  much  more  honored  than  he 
has  been,  and  would  have  been  called  the  Father  of  Republican 
France. 
Marquis   de   LaFayette,   the   friend   of   George   Washington, 


288  Constitutional  Government 

who  took  such  an  active  part  with  us  in  our  war  with  Great 
Britain,  and  to  whom  Congress  in  recognition  of  his  services 
gave  a  township  of  land  and  $200,000  when  he  visited  the  United 
States  in  1824,  was  offered  several  prominent  public  positions  by 
Napoleon.  These  he  refused.  He  could  have  cooperated  with 
Napoleon  as  he  had  with  Washington  in  giving  France  a  liberal 
government,  but  he  opposed  Napoleon's  assumption  of  the  life 
consulate  and  the  imperial  title,  and  he  lived  in  retirement  until 
the  restoration  of  1814,  when  he  became  Vice  President  of  the 
Assembly.  He  remained  true  to  his  principles  and  opposed  the 
reactionary  policy  of  the  restored  Bourbons. 

The  last  attempt  to  construct  a  constitution  suitable  for  a 
representative  republic  after  all  past  experience  has  in  many  re- 
spects been  a  failure. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  with  some  modifica- 
tions as  to  the  limitations  of  the  federal  government  in  its  rela- 
tion to  the  state  governments  and  the  power  vested  in  a  Supreme 
Court  over  acts  of  Congress,  would  be  far  better  than  the  pres- 
ent constitution  of  France,  which  has  not  been  compiled  with 
cool  deliberation  and  put  together  as  an  harmonious  and  com- 
pleted instrument.  The  president  has  not  sufficient  power,  and 
the  ministry  which  is  accountable  to  the  assembly,  following  the 
example  of  former  constitutional  monarchies,  stands  between 
him  and  the  necessary  freedom  of  action  which  should  be  given 
without  fear  to  the  head  of  the  executive  department  of  a  re- 
public. He  should  appoint  his  own  cabinet  and  remove  the 
members  when  he  deems  it  proper  to  do  so,  and  be  accountable 
for  his  own  administration.  Not  being  a  king  nor  an  emperor, 
it  was  not  necessary  to  follow  the  precedent  which  removes  all  ac- 
countability and  responsibility  from  a  king.  The  president  of 
France  should  be  elected  by  the  entire  body  of  the  people  by  uni- 
versal suffrage,  and  be  accountable  to  them  direct,  instead  of 
owing  his  election  to  the  assembly,  which  places  him  more  or  less 
under  its  control. 

The  fatal  experience  of  the  different  republican  administra- 
tions of  France  demonstrates  the  mistake  of  leaving  the  election  of 
President  or  the  power  to  adopt  changes  in  the  constitution  in 
the  hands  of  the  legislative  branch  of  the  government.  In  both 
instances  the  people  should  dictate  and  control  by  a  majority  of 
the  voters  through  equal  universal  suffrage. 

Napoleon  Bonaparte,  and  subsequently  Louis  Napoleon; 
used  the  power  given  into  their  hands  after  being  placed 
at  the  head  of  the  government  through  the  action  of  the 
legislative  department,  to  subvert  the  constitution  under 
which  they  were  chosen.  A  constitution  for  a  representa- 
tive republic  should  not  take  the  power  of  electing  the  president 


Constitutional  Government  289 


out  of  the  direct  control  of  the  people.  It  should  be  regarded 
by  the  people  as  supreme  and  above  the  power  of  the  executive 
or  legislative  branch  of  the  government  to  change.  The  supreme 
power  should  rest  with  the  people,  and  they  alone  should  have 
the  power  to  change  its  provisions.  The  treasonable  acts  of  the 
two  Napoleons  resulted  in  weakening  the  system  of  constitu- 
tional government  and  dangerous  precedents  were  made  for  fu- 
ture republics. 

April  ii,  1814,  Napoleon  signed  an  act  surrendering  the 
throne  of  France  for  himself  and  his  heirs.  He  was  given  an 
annuity  of  two  million  francs  and  allowed  to  retain  his  body- 
guard of  one  thousand  men,  with  which  he  was  to  retire  to  Elba, 
one  of  the  Tuscan  Islands  of  the  Mediterranean.  He  arrived 
there  May  30,  1814. 

After  Napoleon  was  forced  out  of  Europe,  ending  his  daz- 
zling military  exploits  and  brilliant  achievements  in  nation  build- 
ing, another  Bourbon,  Louis  XVIIL,  was  placed  upon  the  re-ad- 
justed throne  of  the  Capets.  He  entered  Paris  three  weeks  after 
the  abdication  of  Napoleon. 

A  new  constitution,  called  the  Constitutional  Charter,  pre- 
pared under  the  instruction  of  the  king,  was  adopted  by  the  two 
chambers  June  4,  18 14,  and  with  a  few  changes  remained  in 
force  until  1848.  At  the  head  of  the  state  was  the  king,  who 
made  appointments,  declared  war,  concluded  treaties,  com- 
manded the  army,  and  initiated  legislation.  The  bicameral  legis- 
lature passed  all  laws  and  levied  all  taxes.  The  Chamber  of 
Peers  was  composed  of  members,  appointed  by  the  king  for  life, 
or  in  heredity.  The  Chamber  of  Deputies  contained  representa- 
tives from  the  several  departments,  elected  for  five  years.  The 
Deputies  were  chosen  under  the  system  of  scrutin  de  liste.  Men 
thirty  years  old  or  more  who  paid  a  direct  tax  of  three  hundred 
francs  annually  assembled  in  the  principal  town  of  a  depart- 
ment and  chose  the  deputy  to  which  it  was  entitled,  voting  by 
ballot.  The  king  received  15,510,000  francs  per  annum  for  him- 
self and  4,000,000  for  the  royal  family. 

The  ministry  was  controlled  by  the  Due  de  Richelieu,  who 
had  taken  the  place  of  Talleyrand  and  Fouche.  In  the  Chambers 
the  Count  D'Artois  represented  the  ultra-royalists'  right  wing, 
while  the  left  was  brilliantly  led  by  LaFayette,  Manuel  and  Ben- 
jamin Constant,  Guizet,  representing  the  modern  party. 

Napoleon,  at  the  urgent  solicitation  of  Fleury  de  Chaboulon, 
formerly  an  auditor  of  the  French  Council  of  State,  who  came  to 
Porto  Ferrajo,  finally  concluded  to  leave  Elba  and  return  to 
France,  where  he  landed  March  I,  18 15.  On  the  19th  he  entered 
Paris,  Louis  XVII.  having  abandoned  the  throne  and  left  France 
as  the  army  had   forsaken  him.     On  the  20th  Napoleon  was 


290  Constitutional  Government 


again  declared  Emperor  and  formed  a  new  cabinet  composed 
of  Fouche,  Caulain  Court,  Marshall  Davoust,  Cambaceres,  Car- 
not,  and  Benjamin  Constant. 

March    13,    he   issued   "Decree    for    Convoking   an    Extraor- 
dinary Assembly." 

The  same  day  the  powers  issued  a  declaration  against  Na- 
poleon. 

The  treaty  of  alliance  against  Napoleon  was  signed  March 
25th. 

April  22,  the  act  additional,  prepared  by  Benjamin  Constant, 
was  submitted  to  popular  vote,  but  never  put  into  operation. 

After  Napoleon's  defeat  at  Waterloo,  June  1815,  Gen.  Sol- 
ignac  in  the  House  of  Representatives  said:  "I  propose  a  com- 
mittee to  wait  on  the  Emperor  for  immediate  decision,  referring 
to  the  demand  for  his  abdication." 

"Let  us  delay  an  hour,"  cried  Lucian,  "an  hour,  but  no 
more,"  replied  Solignac.  "If  the  answer  is  not  returned  at  that 
time,"  said  Lafayette,  "I  will  move  for  his  dethronement." 

Lucian  called  Lafayette  an  ingrate. 

"I  wanting  in  gratitude  to  Napoleon !"  exclaimed  LaFayette 
indignantly.  "Do  you  know  what  we  have  done  for  him?  Have 
you  forgotten  that  the  bones  of  our  brothers  and  our  children 
every  where  attest  our  fidelity  to  him — amid  the  sands  of  Africa 
— on  the  shores  of  Guadalquivir  and  the  Tagus — on  the  banks 
of  the  Vistula,  and  on  the  frozen  deserts  of  Muscovy?  Three 
millions  of  Frenchmen  have  perished  for  one  man,  who  still 
wishes  to  fight  the  combined  powers  of  Europe.  We  have 
done  enough  for  Napoleon;  let  us  try  and  save  France." 

Guizot  wrote  of  Napoleon  as  follows :  "The  genius  and  re- 
nown of  Napoleon  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the  light  of  his- 
tory. Justice  is  done  him  and  will  be  done  every  new  genera- 
tion. Illustrious  in  the  foremost  rank  among  the  greatest  con- 
querors of  enslaved  humanity,  whether  subduing,  ruling,  or  or- 
ganizing, equally  great  by  military  genius  and  by  supreme  in- 
stinct of  national  government." 

On  the  same  day  Louis  XVIII.  entered  Paris  Napoleon  with- 
drew to  Roche  fort.  Lafayette  proposed  to  have  him  escape  to 
the  United  States  on  an  American  merchantman  vessel.  It  was 
arranged  that  Napoleon's  brothers,  as  well  as  Hortense,  with 
others  of  the  family,  should  meet  him  in  America.  He  subse- 
quently went  on  board  the  Bellerophone  which  took  him  to  Eng- 
land and  then  was  sent  to  St.  Helena. 

September,  1824,  Charles  X.,  brother  of  Louis  XVI.,  suc- 
ceeded to  the  throne  of  France  after  his  brother  Louis  XVIII. 
His  youth  was  passed  in  dissipation  and  he  proved  another  ex- 
ample of  kingly  incompetence  and  degeneracy.     He  demanded 


Constitutional  Government  291 


and  received  25,000,000  francs  for  himself  and  700,000  for  the 
princes  annually.  He  demonstrated  the  folly  and  hollow  mockery 
of  turning  over  a  great  national  government  to  be  ruled  by  a  man 
simply  because  he  was  a  descendant  of  a  race  of  demoralized 
kings,  as  the  Capets  and  Bourbons  had  proven  themselves  to 
be. 

Another  revolution  brought  about  a  new  constitution  August 
14,  1830,  which  extended  the  suffrage.  Louis  Phillippe  accepted 
the  title  of  king  under  this  constitution  August  9,  183 1.  He  was 
paid  12,000,000  francs  a  year,  and  his  children  were  given  a  fair 
allowance. 

This  constitution  was  superseded  by  that  of  November  4, 
1848,  which  declared  the  republic  to  be  perpetual  and  the  people 
sovereign,  and  provided  that  a  president  with  executive  powers 
should  be  elected  by  direct  vote  of  the  people. 

IMPERIAL  POLICY  OF  LOUIS  NAPOLEON. 

The  following  is  a  speech  I  made  before  the  Webster  Club  of 
the  University  of  Michigan  in  1863. 

Louis  Napoleon,  by  usurping  power  in  France,  taking  away 
the  liberties  of  the  press,  the  liberties  of  public  meetings,  and  the 
liberties  of  association,  which  three  liberties  exist  in  Eng- 
land, Belgium,  Holland,  Italy  and  Switzerland,  not  only 
crippled  the  liberties  of  France,  but  also  set  a  bad  and  dangerous 
example  to  the  other  limited  monarchies  of  Europe,  and  placed 
a  barrier  in  the  progress  of  the  liberties  of  the  world.  The  re- 
duction of  Mexico,  and  in  fact  the  entire  policy  of  Napoleon 
III.,  has  been  prejudicial  to  the  welfare  of  humanity. 

First,  examine  the  act  of  usurpation  itself.  All  other  usur- 
pations to  be  found  in  history  have  had  some  kind  of  excuse — 
some  pretense,  however,  flimsy — some  form,  however  empty,  of 
public  call  or  public  consent.  But  here  is  a  usurpation  by 
one  of  whom  the  little  that  is  individually  known,  beyond  his 
name,  is  ridiculous,  and  who  has  neither  public  service  nor  con- 
spicuous talents,  nor  personal  reputation  to  justify  an  audacity 
for  exceeding  that  of  Cromwell. 

There  were  several  parties  in  France  at  the  time  of  the  elec- 
tion of  President,  but  the  Bonapartists  triumphed,  and  placed 
Louis  Napoleon  in  the  Executive  chair.  This  is  the  oath  which 
he  took  and  then  villainously  violated :  "In  the  presence  of  God 
and  of  the  French  people  here  represented  by  the  National  As- 
sembly, I  swear  to  remain  faithful  to  the  one  indivisible  and  dem- 
ocratic Republic,  and  to  fulfill  all  the  duties  imposed  upon  me 
by  the  Constitution."  Now,  in  order  to  see  that  he  broke  the  trust 


292  Constitutional  Government 


thus  placed  in  his  hands,  read  Article  68  of  that  Constitution 
which  he  swore  to  maintain: — "Any. measure  by  which  the  Pres- 
ident of  the  Republic  shall  dissolve  the  Assembly,  or  prorogue 
it,  or  interfere  any  obstacle  to  the  exercise  of  its  functions,  is  a 
crime  of  High  Treason.  By  this  mere  act  the  President  is  de- 
prived of  all  his  functions,  the  country  is  bound  to  refuse  him 
obedience,  the  Executive  power  passes  at  once  and  by  right  into 
the  hands  of  the  National  Assembly,  the  judges  of  the  court  of 
justice  are  bound  on  penalty  of  forfeiture  of  their  office  to  as- 
semble immediately  to  the  trial  of  the  President  and  his  accom- 
plices. 

From  the  time  he  was  placed  in  his  Executive  office  until 
the  2nd  of  December,  1852,  when  he  usurped  the  entire  control 
of  the  government,  this  insinuating,  wily,  and  treacherous  Louis 
Napoleon  sought  by  every  means  to  corrupt  the  people  and  gain 
the  mastery  of  the  army.  When  he  had  succeeded  in  doing  this, 
he  imprisoned  the  Assembly,  and  had  himself  proclaimed  Em- 
peror. And  from  that  day  to  this  France  has  crouched  trem- 
blingly beneath  his  tyrannical  heel.  Will  this  be  of  advantage  to 
France,  the  people  of  which  sunny  land  bled  and  died  for  the  ob- 
taining of  their  liberties ;  where  great  minds  struggled  for  years 
to  break  the  chains  that  were  galling  the  people,  and  to  establish 
liberty ;  and  where  a  wise  and  wholesome  Constitution  was 
formed  for  the  perpetuation  of  the  freedom  and  happiness  of  the 
people?  I  think  not,  and  cannot  but  be  grieved  to  see  the 
strong  arm  stretched  forth,  as  it  were,  from  the  grave  of  the 
slumbering  conqueror  of  Europe,  in  order  to  paralyze  this  ad- 
vance of  liberty. 

The  course  adopted  by  Napoleon  to  accomplish  his  design 
of  usurpation,  was  cautious  and  deceptive.  "As  president  his 
salary  was  £24,000,  which  sum  the  Assembly  doubled,  and  added 
£6,000  for  charitable  purposes,  making,  with  some  additions,  a 
salary  of  over  £54,000.  Besides  this  he  had  his  palace  expenses 
paid,  it  being  lighted,  warmed,  furnished,  decorated,  and  served. 
But  this  immense  salary  was  soon  made  away  with  by  the  Mon- 
seigniur  le  Prince  President,  surrounded  by  his  gaudy 
etat  major  of  courtiers,  civil  and  military,  collecting  at  State 
banquets  all  such  foreigners  of  name  and  note  as  he  hoped  to 
dazzle  with  his  splendor  or  propitiate  by  his  cajolaries,  and  giv- 
ing collations  of  roast  fowls  and  champagne  to  twenty  thousand 
men  at  St.  Maur,  and  then  again  thirty  thousand  at  Satory.  The 
object  of  all  this  flattery  is  evident.  The  people  furnished  the 
means  by  which  the  crafty  President  was  bringing  them  into 
his  insatiate  grasp.  In  June,  1850,  he  persuaded  his  Minister 
to  ask  of  the  Assembly  a  large  addition  to  his  official  allowance 
of  1,400,000  francs.    This  was  granted  by  the  Assembly,  and  it 


Constitutional  Government  293 

proved  in  the  end  to  be  the  means  of  their  own  destruction.  Had 
the  President  been  limited  to  his  salary,  he  would  have  found  no 
opportunity  to  subjugate  the  country  unless  aided  by  foreign 
powers.  February,  185 1,  he  made  another  demand  for  1,800,000 
francs,  which  the  Assembly  refused  to  grant.  But  on  the  re- 
assembling of  the  Assembly  the  constitutional  generals  Changar- 
nier  and  others  had  been  dismissed,  under  various  pretenses,  and 
the  President's  generals  placed  in  command. 

Even  as  president,  Napoleon  assumed  the  manners  and  de- 
portment of  an  Emperor,  and  even  had  himself  proclaimed  as 
such  several  times  in  the  army,  and  toasted  as  Vive  Napoleon! 
Vive  l'Empereur ! 

In  December,  1852,  his  plan  was  completed,  and  using  the 
army  as  his  tool,  he  imprisoned  the  Assembly,  and  became  Em- 
peror of  France.  No  man  will  dare  to  affirm  in  this  country  of 
liberty — America — that  such  usurpation  was  beneficial  to 
France.  What  if  a  great  army  has  been  established  in  that  coun- 
try, was  it  not  raised  up  to  protect  the  crafty  individual  who  had 
usurped  the  entire  control  of  the  government?  What  if  Paris 
has  been  decorated  and  improved,  was  not  this  done  to  emblazon 
the  name  of  Napoleon,  and  that  too  with  the  money  of  the  people, 
who,  under  the  liberal  government  taken  from  them,  could  have 
made  far  greater  improvements?  What  if  France  under  the 
Emperor  does  stand  forth  with  power  among  the  monarchies  of 
Europe,  would  she  not  have  loomed  up  with  greater  magnifi- 
cence and  cast  forth  a  more  brilliant  radiance  of  universal  good, 
if  she  had  remained  a  democracy? 

When  I  stood  beneath  the  decorated  ceilings  of  the  Tuil- 
eries,  and  admired  the  recent  embellishments  that  had  been  pro- 
fusely made  by  the  Emperor,  I  could  not  feel  any  great  respect 
for  the  usurper,  who  thus  turned  the  money  of  the  people  into 
channels  all  leading  to  his  own  individual  glory  and  aggrandize- 
ment. When  I  beheld  the  immense  fortifications  that  were  be- 
ing constructed  in  the  center  of  Paris  for  the  personal  protection 
of  Louis  Napoleon,  I  could  imagine  the  hot-bed  of  revolution 
over  which  he  presided —  a  perjured,  scheming  traitor. 

Think  not  the  entire  policy  of  Napoleon  has  been  the  effects 
of  his  own  individual  genius.  No,  the  kings  and  princes  of 
Europe  despise  republics  too  severely  to  permit  a  nation  like 
their  near  neighbor  France  to  possess  that  form  of  government 
with  impunity.  They  have  been  the  silent  aiders  of  the  crafty 
scheme,  and  Napoleon  has  been  their  tool.  Yes,  he  has  been  the 
Judas  that  has  betrayed  the  liberties  of  his  country  to  those  who 
feared  its  power  if  a  republic. 

See  what  a  barrier  this  usurpation  places  in  the  progress 
of  nations  in  the  highway  of  civilization.    If  a  president  can  be- 


294  Constitutional  Government 


come  an  emperor  with  such  ease  in  France,  what  will  ambitious 
presidents  in  the  United  States  and  other  democracies  attempt 
to  do?  Will  it  make  free  governments  more  popular  in  the  eyes 
of  the  world  for  them  to  be  thus  easily  subjugated,  deceived  and 
overthrown?  It  is  not  surprising  that  the  people  of  America  then 
have  feared  usurpation  of  power  by  a  president  of  whom  they 
were  comparatively  ignorant,  clothed  with  powers  possessed  by 
our  present  president,  when  they  behold  such  gross  assumption 
of  power  just  over  the  ocean.  Abraham  Lincoln  differs  in  char- 
acter from  Louis  Napoleon,  possessing  a  noble  and  patriotic 
nature,  so  there  is  really  no  need  of  fear,  yet  we  cannot  be  sur- 
prised that  there  is  such  fear  expressed  by  some  in  this  country 
after  considering  the  destruction  of  the  French  Democracy. 

The  reduction  of  Mexico  was  the  unfolding  of  a  policy  that 
destroyed  the  doctrine  of  non-intervention  promulgated  by  Mon- 
roe that  has  existed  for  many  years  between  the  United  States 
and  the  nations  of  Europe.  This  is  a  peace-preserving  doc- 
trine, and  its  subversion  opens  cause  for  wars  with  foreign  na- 
tions. But,  in  no  greater  degree,  than  the  Napoleonic  policy  of 
declaring  the  treaty  of  1815  a  nullity  threw  the  nations  of 
Europe  into  uneasiness,  and  paved  the  way  for  transatlantic,  in- 
ternational war  and  confusion. 

Under  the  guise  of  a  peace-maker,  in  his  policy  of  an  Euro- 
pean Congress,  the  Emperor  opened  their  doleful  caves  and  sent 
forth  with  their  hideous  cries  the  blood-thirsty  dogs  of  war.  In 
fact  the  whole  policy  of  this  man  shows  the  silent  instigations 
of  a  corrupt,  treacherous,  and  deceitful  heart,  and  not  satis- 
fied with  the  destruction  of  freedom  in  France,  he  tries  to  en- 
slave Mexico,  and  bring  discord  and  animosity  among  his  neigh- 
boring nations.  Would  that  my  voice  had  the  power  of  thunder 
and  my  speech  the  eloquence  and  brilliancy  of  lightning,  then 
I  should  like  to  sweep  over  France  as  some  huge  thunder  cloud, 
sounding  the  eternal  principles  of  liberty  and  universal  emancipa- 
tion, with  the  loudest  notes,  in  the  ears  of  every  Frenchman  in 
the  sunny  land  of  France !  I  should  like  to  write  with  the  elec- 
tric pen  of  lightning  above  its  beauteous  gardens,  blooming  fields, 
and  gorgeous  cities — Freedom  to  France!  Death  and  ignominy 
to  the  usurper !  May  the  family  of  the  Bonapartes  be  swallowed 
up  in  the  same  gulf  of  defeat  and  failure  into  which  sank  and 
perished  their  proud  Napoleons! 


LOUIS  NAPOLEON. 

Louis  Napoleon  at  once  became  a  candidate,  promised  to  de- 
vote himself  to  the  maintenance  of  the  republic,  and  received 


Constitutional  Government  295 


5,000,000  out  of  7,000,000  of  the  votes  of  the  deluded  populace. 
He  was  merely  another  ambitious  Napoleon,  the  nephew  of  his 
renowned  uncle,  who  coveted  a  throne  to  which  neither  he  nor 
his  uncle  ever  had  an  inherited  or  legitimate  right,  both  being 
absolute  usurpers,  from  start  to  finish.  He  treacherously  ac- 
cepted the  presidency,  intending  to  subvert  and  destroy  the  re- 
public. This  he  soon  succeeded  in  doing.  The  constitution  of 
July  14,  1862,  extended  his  rule  ten  years  as  president  and  fol- 
lowing the  example  of  his  uncle  he  soon  gained  the  throne.  The 
senatus  consultum  ratified  the  fraudulent  and  enforced  plebicite 
of  November  21  and  22,  making  him  emperor. 

By  a  senatus-consulti  of  April  20,  1870  (approved  by  a  ple- 
bicite of  May  8,  following),  important  changes  were  made  in  the 
constitution.  These  reforms,  however,  came  too  late  to  save  the 
Napoleonic  dynasty.  A  merited  and  foreordained  doom 
swiftly  descended  upon  the  usurpers  of  the  ancient  throne  of 
France.  The  avenging  sword  of  the  house  of  Hohenzollern,  once 
humiliated  by  the  first  Napoleon,  like  a  flash  of  lightning  from 
a  clear  sky,  ended  the  career  of  the  nephew  at  Sedan,  as  that 
of  the  uncle  was  terminated  at  Waterloo. 


SITUATION   FOLLOWING  THE  STIRRING  EVENTS  OF   187O,  DESCRIBED 
IN  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  MAN   WHO  SUPPRESSED  THE  COMMUNE. 

A  historical  letter  written  by  M.  Adolphe  Thiers  in  1876, 
and  hitherto  unpublished,  has  been  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Temps  and  published  by  that  paper.  The  letter  is  of  much  in- 
terest coming  from  the  pen  of  the  man  who  suppressed  the  Com- 
mune and  as  president  of  the  Republic  in  1871  gave  all  his  en- 
ergy to  clearing  France  of  the  Germans  and  to  the  paying  of  the 
indemnity. 

The  Temps  says  of  the  letter  that  in  a  few  pages  it  contains 
a  portrait  of  Thiers,  gives  a  summary  of  a  period  of  history, 
and  imparts  some  instruction  in  political  philosophy. 

The  letter  translated  is  as  follows : 

Paris,  12  Aug.   1876. 
My  dear  Mr.  Tchitcherine, 

You  will  forgive  me  for  being  behindhand  in  consideration  of 
the  fact  that  I  have  a  great  deal  more  to  do  than  I  have  time  to 
do  it  in.  Not  that  I  give  the  whole  of  my  time  to  politics;  I  do 
so  when  I  am  in  charge  of  public  affairs,  to  the  point  of  forget- 
ting everything  else;  but  when  the  responsibility  is  on  other 
people's  shoulders,  I  leave  it  to  them  entirely,  not  selfishly,  but 
out  of  consideration  to  their  authority.  God  grant  they  get 
through  with  it  all  right,  for  our  sakes  and  for  everybody's. 


296  Constitutional  Government 


Rid  of  the  cares  of  state  I  give  my  whole  time,  or  that  which 
I  can  spare  from  my  work  as  deputy,  to  study.  Your  brother- 
in-law,  Count  Kapnist,  a  very  enlightened  and  lovable  man,  will 
give  you  news  of  me,  for  I  often  see  him,  and  always  with  pleas- 
ure. He  will  tell  you  that  I  give  all  my  attention  to  my  work, 
and  that  I  do  not  get  in  the  way  much  of  those  at  the  helm. 

I  received  your  letter  with  great  pleasure,  and  am  glad  that 
you  remember  me  so  affectionately.  You  have  witnessed  part  of 
my  long  and  hard  working  life  both  from  a  distance  and  near 
at  hand,  and  you  have  been  able  to  judge  of  the  sincerity  and 
constancy  of  my  opinions.  In  all  good  faith,  I  have  wished  for 
and  endeavored  to  establish  a  constitutional  monarchy. 

Belonging  to  a  good  family  of  the  magistrature,  connected 
with  a  rich  industrial  family  of  good  standing  before  the  period 
of  the  Revolution,  educated  in  a  college  of  the  first  empire,  there 
was  nothing  to  dissuade  me  from  a  liberal  monarchy,  everything 
on  the  contrary,  bound  me  to  it,  my  parents,  my  education,  which 
was  both  of  a  liberal  and  a  military  character,  and  lastly  my  own 
inclinations. 


PRINCES  ARE   CRITICIZED. 

I  would  have  accepted  it  from  Charles  X.,  from  Louis  Phil- 
ippe, and  even  from  Napoleon  III.  But  these  three  princes,  with 
the  best  intentions  no  doubt,  but  with  deplorable  blindness,  did 
everything  that  lay  in  their  power  to  prevent  its  success.  The 
true  idea  of  a  liberal  monarchy  is  that  the  prince  should  efface 
himself  in  order  that  those  unto  whom  power  has  been  dele- 
gated may  follow  the  lead  of  the  country.  But  every  one  of 
them  wanted  to  govern  in  accordance  with  his  own  views,  with 
quite  good  intentions,  but  in  such  a  manner  as  to  offend  every 
national  instinct. 

Charles  X.  thought  he  had  the  church  to  defend;  Louis  Phil- 
ippe wished  to  please  Europe  in  order  to  obtain  her  support; 
Napoleon  III.  wanted  to  give  himself  something  of  the  air  of 
his  famous  uncle — they  all  three  pursued  obstinately  their  own 
intentions  in  direct  opposition  to  the  trend  of  the  country.  The 
result  was  the  fall  of  the  monarchy  on  three  successive  occasions, 
after  which  a  further  trial  of  it  was  impossible. 

It  would  be  necessary  to  have  seen  the  condition  of  affairs  in 
Bordeaux  to  recognize  to  what  extent  I  allowed  circumstances 
to  govern  my  course  of  action.  They  turned  to  me  because 
there  was  nothing  else  they  could  do.  I  was  not  beloved  by  the 
Royalists  because  they  knew  that  I  should  never  be  a  passive 
instrument  in  their  hands. 


Constitutional  Government  297 


LIBERALS  SYMPATHETIC. 

The  Liberals  were  sympathetically  inclined,  but  they  feared 
my  former  monarchic  leanings;  they  all  put  up  with  me,  each 
party  reserving  to  itself  the  right  to  desert  me  should  I  show 
any  leanings  to  any  of  the  three  existing  parties.  I  had  neither 
a  soldier  nor  a  silver  crown  with  which  to  face  the  800,000  for- 
eign soldiers  who  were  masters  of  France.  It  was  in  such  a 
situation  that  I  had  to  govern,  maintaining  my  balance  between 
all  parties,  not  one  of  which  gave  me  frank  support. 

I  crushed  a  furious  insurrection,  which  had  got  the  upper  hand 
in  a  capital  armed  to  the  teeth;  I  got  rid  of  the  Prussians  by 
keeping  my  engagements,  entering  into  financial  operations 
which  had  no  precedent,  and  finally  I  succeeded  in  restoring  a 
little  order  and  much  confidence.  Seeing  the  work  I  was  doing, 
the  Republican  party  took  heart  and  supported  me,  but  I  was 
furiously  attacked  by  the  Royalists ;  I  let  them  do  and  say  what 
they  pleased,  giving  my  entire  attention  to  freeing  the  country. 

But  once  the  liberation  obtained,  I  was  compelled  to  close  on 
the  three  Monarchist  parties  and  to  compel  them  either  to  accept 
the  republic,  which  I  considered  the  only  form  of  government 
possible,  or  else  to  establish  a  monarchy,  if  they  thought  them- 
selves capable  of  undertaking  the  task.  They  preferred  the  lat- 
ter alternative  and  I  gave  them  an  absolutely  free  hand.  They 
failed  utterly,  and  proved  completely  that  the  republic  was  the 
only  possible  solution. 

The  situation  at  present  is  certainly  a  difficult  one,  with  a 
country  which  has  accepted  the  republican  form  of  government 
and  a  government  that  hates  the  republic.  The  results  are  un- 
fortunate disagreements  which  may  some  day  lead  to  serious 
dangers.  With  wisdom  it  may  be  possible  to  meet  the  situation. 
The  great  thing  is  to  do  everything  possible  to  preserve  peace. 
Your  emperor,  who  is  profoundly  respected  in  France,  desires 
peace,  and  he  is  right.  But  Slav  sympathies  are  disquieting 
Europe  to  some  extent ;  she  would  regard  with  despair  a  rupture 
brought  about  by  Oriental  agitations. 

Believe  me,  everybody  desires  peace,  and  be  assured  that  in 
spite  of  our  misfortunes  we  are  not  those  who  need  it  most. 
May  we  all  preserve  peace  with  dignity.  I  have  written  to  you  at 
length,  as  to  an  old  friend,  and  believe  me,  the  kindly  feelings 
which  you  bear  toward  me  are  fully  returned,  I  should  be  very 
happy  if  you  could  come  and  see  us.  I  am  spending  three  months 
in  Switzerland  in  order  to  go  on  with  my  book.  If  the  fancy 
should  take  you  to  travel  a  little  in  Europe,  I  would  enjoy  to 
talk  with  you  of  the  whole  universe — no  less.     ■  Adieu.     Adieu. 

A.  THIERS. 
(Christian  Science  Monitor.) 


298  Constitutional  Government 


FRANCE  A  REPUBLIC  AGAIN. 

When  the  nations  of  Europe  discover  that  competent  rulers 
born  with  a  genius  for  governing,  like  Peter  the  Great,  Julius 
Caesar,  Napoleon,  Washington,  and  Lincoln,  are  not  necessarily 
born  in  the  family  of  kings  or  emperors,  like  the  demoralized 
Charles  II.  of  England  and  the  dissipated  Charles  X.  of  France, 
they  will  cease  placing  little  puppets  on  thrones  simply  on  ac- 
count of  their  ancestors. 

The  better  element  in  France  outside  of  Paris,  as  well  as  in 
it,  must  assert  itself,  as  its  like  does  in  the  United  States,  and 
place  the  government  above  the  plane  of  non-Christian  nations. 
Respect  should  be  shown  to  all  sects,  giving  equal  freedom  and 
action.  No  amount  of  ability  and  public  service  can  make  up  for 
an  utter  lack  of  principle  and  morality  on  the  part  of  those 
charged  with  the  various  duties  of  administering  the  affairs  of 
government.  No  republic,  nor  any  other  government  can  long 
stand  on  a  foundation  other  than  justice  and  morality. 

THIERS  ELECTED  PRESIDENT,  1 87 1. 

Until  Louis  Adolphe  Thiers,  called  the  "Liberator  of  the 
Territory, "  became  president  of  the  restored  republic,  August 
3,  1 87 1,  the  instability  of  republican  institutions  in  France,  vacil- 
lating through  the  fickleness  of  the  people  and  the  plotting  of 
pseudo  kings  and  emperors  and  their  adherents,  calling  them- 
selves monarchists,  and  the  inability  of  the  nation  to  maintain  a 
government  of  this  character,  discredited  republicanism  and 
served  the  purpose  of  the  Holy  Alliance,  formed  by  the  Emperor 
of  Austria,  the  Czar  of  Russia,  and  the  King  of  Prussia  and 
backed  by  Metternich  and  all  monarchists  generally,  to  check 
such  promulgation  in  Europe  and  throughout  the  world. 

It  has  been  stated  that  France  under  a  republic  was  less 
loyal  to  Christianity  than  under  the  old  monarchical  system. 
There  is  no  reason  why  this  should  be.  Republicanism  in  the 
United  States  and  Switzerland  and  other  republics  shows  as 
much  respect  for  religion  as  is  shown  in  other  governments.  If 
there  is  any  lack  of  religion  it  is  not  on  account  of  the  form  of 
government,  but  of  atheism  and  the  demoralization  of  the  people, 
who  would  be  the  same  under  a  monarchy.  Of  the  forty  min- 
istries which  came  into  existence  in  France  from  1870  to  1900 
none  lasted  more  than  twenty  months,  "according  to  the  season 
at  which  they  assumed  the  reins  of  power." 

The  ministry  of  M.  Poincare  established  January,  1912,  was 
the  forty-fifth  since  1875,  37  years. 


Constitutional  Government  299 


THE  PRESENT  CONSTITUTION  OF  FRANCE. 

The  present  constitutional  laws  of  France  provided  only  for 
the  bare  organization  of  the  public  authority,  and  can  be  amend- 
ed virtually  at  will  by  the  legislature;  while  the  constitutions  of 
Switzerland,  Germany  and  the  United  States  go  into  great  detail, 
and  that  of  the  United  States  only  with  the  greatest  difficulty. 
The  result  is  that  the  French  constitution  although  written  and 
technically  rigid,  bears  from  the  point  of  view  of  rigidity  in  far 
closer  resemblance  to  the  constitution  of  England  than  that  of 
the  United  States.     (A.  Lawrence  Lowell). 

"In  the  preparation  of  the  English  texts  of  French  Consti- 
tutional and  organic  laws  use  has  been  made  of  the  translation 
of  Professor  Charles  F.  A.  Currier,  issued  as  a  supplement  to 
the  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social 
Science  of  Fear  1893. 

The  following  extracts  relating  to  the  Constitution  of  France 
were  taken  from  Walter  Fairleigh  Dodd's  work  on  Modern 
Constitutions,  University  of  Chicago,  1912: 

CONSTITUTIONAL  LAW  ON  THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  PUBLIC 

POWERS. 

(February  25,  1875.) 

Article  I.  The  legislative  power  shall  be  exercised  by  two 
assemblies :  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  and  the  Senate. 

LAW    RE-ESTABLISHING    SINGLE    DISTRICTS    FOR   THE    ELECTION    OF 

DEPUTIES. 

Article  I.  Arts.  I,  2,  and  3,  of  the  law  of  June  16,  1885, 
are  repealed. 

Article  2.  Members  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  shall  be 
elected  by  single  districts.  Each  administrative  arrondissement 
in  the  departments,  and  each  municipal  arrondissement  at  Paris 
and  at  Lyons,  shall  elect  one  deputy.  Arrondissements  the  pop- 
ulation of  which  exceeds  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants  shall 
elect  an  additional  deputy  for  every  one  hundred  thousand  or 
fraction  of  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants.  Arrondissements 
in  such  cases  shall  be  divided  into  districts,  a  table  of  which  is 
annexed  to  the  present  law  and  shall  only  be  changed  by  law. 

Article  3.  One  deputy  is  assigned  to  the  territory  of  Bel- 
fort,  six  to  Algeria,  and  ten  to  the  colonies,  as  is  indicated 
by  the  table.  (See  Jouvenal  Official,  Feb.  14,  1889,  modified  July 
22,  1893  and  March  30,  1902.) 


300  Constitutional  Government 


Article  4.  On  and  after  the  promulgation  of  the  present 
law,  until  the  renewal  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  vacancies 
occurring  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  shall  not  be  filled. 


LAW  ON  PARLIAMENTARY  INCOMPATIBILITIES. 

(December  26,  1887.) 

Until  the  passage  of  a  special  law  on  parliamentary  incom- 
patibilities, Acts  8  and  9  of  the  law  of  November  30,  1875,  shall 
apply  to  senatorial  elections. 

Every  officer  affected  by  this  provision  who  has  had  twenty 
years  of  service  and  is  fifty  years  of  age,  at  the  time  of  his  ac- 


ceptance of  the  office  as  senator,  may  establish  his  rights  to  a 
proportional  retiring  pension,  which  shall  be  governed  by  the 
third  paragraph  of  the  law  of  June  9,  1853. 


ORGANIZATION   OP  THE   SENATE. 

(December  9,  188J+). 

Article  I.  The  senate  shall  be  composed  of  three  hundred 
members,  elected  by  the  departments  and  the  colonies. 

The  present  members,  without  any  distinction  between  Sen- 
ators elected  by  the  National  Assembly  or  by  the  Senate  and 
those  elected  by  the  departments  and  colonies,  shall  retain  their 
offices  during  the  time  for  which  they  have  been  chosen. 

Article  II.  The  department  of  the  Seine  shall  elect  ten 
senators. 

The  department  of  the  Nord  shall  elect  eight  senators. 

The  following  departments  shall  elect  five  senators  each: 
Cotes-du-Nord,  Finistere,  Gironde,  Ille-et-vilaine,  Loire,  Loire- 
Inferieure,  Pas-de-Calais,  Rhone,  Saone-et-Loire,  Seine-In- 
ferieure. 

The  following  departments  shall  elect  four  senators  each : 
Aisne,  Bouches-de-Rhone,  Charente-Inferieure,  Dordogne, 
Haute-Garonne,  Isere,  Maine-et-Loire,  Manche,  Morihan,  Puy- 
de-Dome,  Seine-et-Oise,  Somme. 

The  following  departments  shall  elect  three  senators  each : 
Ain,  Allier,  Ardeche,  Ardennes,  Aube,  Aude,  Aveyron,  Calva- 
dos, Charente,  Cher,  Correze,  Corse,  Cote  d'Or,  Creuse,  Doubs, 
Drome,  Eure,  Eure-et-Loir,  Gard,  Gers,  Herault,  Indre,  Indre- 
et-Loire,  Jura,  Landes,  Loir-et-Cher,  Haute-Loir,  Loiret,  Lot, 


Constitutional  Government  301 


Lot-et-Garonne,  Marne,  Haute-Marne,  Mayenne,  Meurthe-et- 
Moselle,  Meuse,  Nievre,  Oise,  Orne,  Basses-Pyrenees,  Haute- 
Saone,  Sarthe,  Savoie,  Haute-Savoie,  Seine-et-Marne,  Deux- 
Sevres,  Tarn,  Var,  Vendee,  Vienne,  Haute-Vienne,  Haute- 
Vienne,  Vosges,  Yonne. 

The  following  departments  shall  elect  two  senators  each : 
Rasses-Alpes,  Hautes-Alpes,  Alpes-Maritimes,  Ariege,  Cantal, 
Lozere,  Hautes-Pyrenees,  Pyrenees-Orientales,  Tarn-et-Garonne, 
Vaucluse. 

The  following  shall  elect  one  senator  each:  The  territory 
of  Bel  fort,  the  three  departments  of  Algeria,  the  four  colonies : 
Martinique,  Guadeloupe,  Reunion,  and  French  Indies.  (Dodd, 
Modern  Constitutions,  Vol.  I  pp.  310,  311.) 

Act  of  July  20,  1895,  "No  one  may  become  a  member  of 
either  branch  of  Parliament  unless  he  has  complied  with  the  law 
regarding  military  service. 


Law  of  February  25,  1875. 

Article  8.  The  chambers  shall  have  the  right  by  separate 
resolution,  taken  in  each  by  an  absolute  majority  vote,  either 
upon  their  own  initiative  or  upon  the  request  of  the  President 
of  the  republic  to  declare  a  revision  of  the  constitutional  laws 
necessary. 

After  the  two  chambers  shall  have  come  to  this  decision, 
they  shall  meet  together  in  national  assembly  to  proceed  with  the 
revision. 

The  acts  affecting  the  revision  of  the  constitutional  laws,  in 
whole  or  in  part,  shall  be  passed  by  an  absolute  majority  of  the 
members  composing  the  national  assembly. 


Law  of  August  13,  188 % 

The  republican  form  of  government  shall  not  be  made  the 
subject  of  a  proposed  revision. 

Members  of  families  that  have  reigned  in  France  are  inele- 
gible  for  the  Presidency  of  the  Republic. 

Act  of  July  16,  1875. 

Article  9.  The  President  of  the  republic  shall  not  declare 
war  without  the  previous  consent  of  the  two  chambers. 


302  Constitutional  Government. 


Act  of  July  15,  I875. 

Article  12.  The  President  of  the  republic  may  be  im- 
peached by  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  only,  and  may  be  tried  only 
by  the  Senate. 


THE  PRESIDENT. 

Article  2.  Law  of  February  25,  1875.  The  President  of 
the  Republic  shall  be  elected  by  an  absolute  majority  of  the  votes 
of  the  Senate  and  the  Chamber  of  Deputies.  He  shall  be  elected 
for  seven  years.     He  is  re-eligible. 

Article  3.  The  President  of  the  republic  shall  have  the 
initiative  of  laws,  concurrently  with  the  members  of  the  two 
chambers.  He  shall  promulgate  the  laws  when  they  have  been 
voted  by  the  two  chambers.  He  shall  look  after  and  secure  their 
execution. 

Every  act  of  the  President  of  the  republic  shall  be  counter- 
signed by  a  minister.  "Under  the  French  system  of  government 
functions  that  are  of  a  purely  executive  character  are  vested  in 
a  President  of  the  republic  and  ministers  assisted  by  a  numer- 
ous and  highly  centralized  body  of  administrative  officials." 

"The  President  is  elected  every  seven  years  and  is  paid  a 
salary  of  one  million  two  hundred  thousand  francs,  half  as  sal- 
ary, and  half  to  cover  travelling  expenses  and  outlays  incumbent 
upon  him  as  the  official  representative  of  the  nation." 

"The  President's  authority  is  but  nominal." 

"There  is  no  living  functionary  who  occupies  a  more  piti- 
able position  than  a  French  President.  The  old  kings  of  France 
reigned  and  governed.  The  constitutional  king,  according  to  M. 
Thiers,  reigned  but  did  not  govern.  The  President  of  the  United 
States  governs  but  does  not  reign.  It  has  been  reserved  for  the 
President  of  the  French  republic  neither  to  reign  nor  yet  to  gov- 
ern."   (Henry  Maine,  Popular  Government,  London,  1885,  250.) 

The  weakness  of  the  French  President's  position,  says  Fred- 
erick Austin  Ogg,  arises  specially  from  two  causes  in  the  con- 
stitutional law  of  February  25,  1875.  "One  of  these  stipulates 
that  every  act  of  the  President  of  the  republic  shall  be  counter- 
signed by  a  minister.  The  other  provides  that  the  ministers  shall 
be  collectively  responsible  to  the  chambers  for  the  general  policy 
of  the  government,  and  individually  for  their  personal  acts." 

"In  government,  however,  the  most  logical  system  is  not 
always  the  best,  and  the  anomalous  position  of  the  President  of 
France  has  saved  France  from  the  danger  of  his  trying  to  make 


Constitutional  Government  303 


himself  dictator,  while  the  fact  that  he  is  independent  of  the 
changing  moods  of  the  chambers  has  given  to  the  republic  a  dig- 
nity and  stability  it  has  not  enjoyed  before."  (A.  Lawrence 
Lowell,  Governments  in  Continental  Europe). 

There  are  twelve  ministerial  portfolios  created  by  executive 
decree. 

(i)  Interior;  (2)  Finance;  (3)  War;  (4)  Justice  and  Pub- 
lic Worship;  (5)  Marine;  (6)  Colonies;  (7)  Public  Instruction; 
(8)  Foreign  Affairs;  (9)  Commerce;  (10)  Agriculture;  (11) 
Public  Works;  and  Posts,  and  telephones;  (12)  Labor. 

Law  of  February  16,  i8y5. 

Article  5.  The  President  of  the  Republic  may,  with  the 
advice  of  the  Senate,  dissolve  the  Chambers  of  Deputies  before 
the  legal  expiration  of  its  time. 


Law  of  August  1$,  i88Jf. 

Article  12.  Paragraph  two  of  Article  5,  of  the  Constitu- 
tional Law  of  February  25,  1875,  is  amended  as  follows: 

"In  that  case  the  electoral  colleges  shall  meet  for  a  new 
election  within  two  months  and  the  Chambers  within  ten  days 
following  the  close  of  the  election.'' 


THE   MINISTRY. 

The  reason  that  the  ministers  are  responsible  for  the  gener- 
al policy  of  the  government  is  to  establish  the  parliamentary  sys- 
tem, making  the  French  ministry  responsible  to  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  the  same  as  the  English  ministry  is  to  the  House  of 
Commons,  resigning  on  a  hostile  vote  on  any  matter  of  import- 
ance. 

According  to  Article  12,  Law  of  July  16,  1875,  the  ministers 
may  be  impeached  by  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  for  offenses  com- 
mitted in  the  performance  of  their  duties,  in  which  case  they  shall 
be  tried  by  the  Senate. 

The  ministry  is  changed  very  often,  forty-five  different  min- 
isters having  been  selected  since  1875,  at  the  time  when  Poin- 
care's  ministry  was  established  January  191 2. 

June  30,  1910,  the  Briand  ministry  brought  forward  the 
Electoral  Reform  Bill.  Its  essential  features  were.  (1)  A  re- 
turn to  the  scrutin  de  liste,  with  a  department  as  the  electoral 
area,  save  that  a  department  entitled  to  more  than  fifteen  depu- 


304  Constitutional  Government 


ties,  should  for  electoral  purposes,  be  divided,  and  one  entitled 
to  fewer  than  four,  should  be  united  with  another:  (2)  An  allot- 
ment of  one  deputy  to  every  70,000  inhabitants,  or  a  major  frac- 
tion thereof;  (3)  The  division  of  the  total  number  of  the  elec- 
toral on  the  register  within  a  department  by  the  number  of  depu- 
ties to  which  the  department  shall  be  entitled,  the  quotient  to 
supply  the  names  by  to  determine  the  number  of  deputies  re- 
turned to  the  Chamber  from  each  competing  ticket;  (4)  the  de- 
termination of  this  number  by  division  of  the  foregoing  quotient 
into  the  average  number  of  votes  obtained  by  the  candidates  on 
each  competing  ticket,  thus  introducing  the  element  proportional 
representation;  (5)  The  making  up  of  tickets  in  each  depart- 
ment from  candidates  nominated  by  one  hundred  electors;  (6) 
The  restriction  of  each  elector  to  vote  for  but  a  single  ticket; 
and  (7)  the  extension  of  the  life  of  the  chamber  from  four  to 
six  years,  one  third  of  the  members  chosen  bi-annually.  In  the 
ministerial  declaration  accompanying  the  announcement  of  this 
scheme  Premier  Briand  declared  that  the  effect  of  the  scrutin 
d'arrondissement  had  been  to  narrow  the  political  horizon  of  the 
deputies ;  that  the  electoral  area  must  be  broadened  so  that  the 
interests  of  the  nation  must  be  made  to  predominate  over  those 
of  the  district;  and  that,  while  in  a  democracy  the  majority  must 
rule  the  Government  was  favorable  to  proportional  representa- 
tion in  so  far  as  the  adoption  of  that  principle  can  prevent  the 
suppression  of  really  important  minorities. 

During  the  early  months  subsequently  of  19 12  a  consider- 
ation of  this  bill  was  pressed  in  the  Chamber  and  July  10  the 
whole  of  the  Government  Electoral  Reform  Bill  was  adopted  by 
a  vote  of  339  to  217.  At  the  date  of  writing,  October  1912,  the 
measure  is  pending  in  the  Senate.  (Frederick  Austin  Ogg,  Gov- 
ernments of  Europe). 


DEBATE  ON  ELECTORAL  REFORM. 

A  recent  Paris  dispatch  says  that  an  extremely  interesting  de- 
bate took  place  in  the  Chamber  recently  in  consequence  of  a  bill 
submitted  by  Pugliesi  Conti  who  asked  that  the  question  of  elec- 
toral reform  be  settled  by  a  referendum,  and  demanded  imme- 
diate discussion  on  the  grounds  of  urgency. 

It  is  supposed  that  this  action  was  prompted  by  the  dead- 
lock that  has  been  created  through  the  Senate  having  repeatedly 
rejected  the  reform  bill  as  passed  by  the  Chamber,  and  more  re- 
sently  by  the  refusal  of  the  Senate  committee  to  consider  any  of 
the  concessions  that  the  Chamber  asked  for. 

It  was  considered  that  this   referendum  would  be  a  means 


Constitutional  Government  305 

of  relieving  the  advanced  sections  of  the  Liberal  party  and  the 
Socialists  of  any  unpleasant  consequences  at  the  hands  of  their 
constituents  at  the  forthcoming  elections,  through  their  unsym- 
pathetic attitude  toward  the  reform. 

The  debate  was  carried  on  with  considerable  opposition. 
Andre  Hesse  in  reply  to  Pugliesi  Conti  said  that  the  motion  was 
not  even  tenable  and  that  the  constitution  gave  to  the  Chambers 
a  power  which  they  had  no  right  to  delegate.  M.  Doumergue, 
the  president  of  the  council,  also  opposed  the  motion  on  the 
grounds  that  it  was  unconstitutional  and  the  debate  was  then  con- 
tinued by  the  Socialist  members,  and  became  specially  interesting 
from  the  fact  that  it  drew  from  M.  Briand  a  speech  which  is 
regarded  as  a  very  notable  one. 

M.  Briand  began  by  saying  that  he  opposed  the  bill  not  only 
for  the  reason  already  stated  by  the  previous  speakers,  but  for  a 
further  one  to  which  he  desired  to  draw  the  attention  of  the 
Chamber.  Four  years  ago  at  a  similar  epoch,  a  few  months  be- 
fore the  general  elections,  the  question  of  electoral  reform  had 
been  raised,  and  the  feeling  of  the  Chamber  had  been  one  of 
approval. 

He  was  himself  in  office  at  the  time  and  thought  it  right  to 
ask  the  Chamber  to  leave  so  important  a  reform  to  be  decided 
by  the  country  itself.  The  elections  afterwards  took  place,  and 
they  had  reason,  as  the  representatives  of  those  elections,  to  look 
back  and  ask  themselves  what  they  had  accomplished. 

M.  Briand's  question  drew  forth  immense  applause,  after 
which  he  went  on  to  say  that  on  various  occasions  they  had  de- 
clared that  the  wish  of  their  electors  had  been  clearly  expressed 
in  favor  of  electoral  reform.  They  had  even,  on  various  occa- 
sions, voted  the  "scrutin  de  liste"  with  representation  for  minor- 
ities, and  as  chief  of  the  government  he  had  gone  before  the 
Senate  to  support  their  decision  as  being  their  best  idea  of  uni- 
versal suffrage.  The  Senate  had  rejected  their  wish,  and  he 
wished  to  ask  them  if  they  themselves  were  beginning  to  waver, 
of  if  they  had  the  smallest  doubt  as  to  the  feeling  of  the  country. 

On  the  very  eve  of  the  elections  it  would  look  as  though  they 
felt  the  need,  with  regard  to  this  question  which  had  weighed 
so  heavily  on  Parliament,  of  turning  again  to  the  country,  won- 
dering if,  after  all,  the  Senate  were  in  the  right  and  they  in  the 
wrong.  They  had  stirred  the  whole  country  to  its  very  depths, 
and  had  represented  this  question  as  the  most  serious  and  urgent 
of  all,  and  yet  they  were  now  ready  to  declare  weakly  and  dis- 
consolately that  they  simply  did  not  know  what  to  do,  thus  show- 
ing the  most  deplorable  weakness. 

He  had  himself  fought  for  this  reform  with  the  conviction 
that  it  responded  to  the  needs  of  the  country,  and  it  was  not  by 


306  Constitutional  Government 


means  of  a  referendum  that  they  could  now  ask  for  the  country's 
reply.  As  representatives  of  universal  suffrage  it  was  for  them 
to  stand  firm  and  declare  that  they  had  not  been  misled  as  to  the 
feelings  of  the  country,  and  were  fully  convinced  that  those  feel- 
ings had  not  changed.  He  would  like  to  know  whether,  in  case 
the  vote  were  again  rejected  by  the  Senate,  they  intended  then 
to  ask  for  a  further  referendum  so  as  not  to  disturb  the  various 
parliamentary  groups. 

On  the  eve  of  the  last  elections,  M.  Briand  said,  he  had  told 
them  that  the  problem  of  universal  suffrage  to  be  laid  before  the 
electors  was  a  delicate  one,  and  that  it  must  be  settled  by  them 
on  the  understanding  that  there  must  be  no  coalitions.  These 
coalitions  had,  nevertheless,  been  formed,  and  he  wanted  to  know 
whether  this  most  essential  parliamentary  reform  was  going  to 
be  abandoned,  and  whether  those  who  had  said  at  the  public 
meetings  that  nothing  in  the  way  of  political  progress  could  be 
accomplished  without  electoral  reform,  were  now  going  to  aban- 
don their  ideas  of  such  reform  in  favor  of  new  combinations,  or 
for  the  sake  of  electoral  convenience  and  custom.  If  they  were 
going  to  do  this  the  country  alone  could  judge  them. 

It  was  for  these  reasons,  the  speaker  said,  that  he  would  not 
vote  for  a  referendum  which  could  only  be  humiliating  to  the 
representatives  of  universal  suffrage.  On  putting  the  bill  to  the 
vote  it  was  rejected  by  385  votes  to  175,  the  latter  figure  repre- 
senting the  votes  of  the  Socialists  and  the  members  of  the  right. 

the  parliamentary  system. 

"The  theory  of  the  parliamentary  system  is  based  upon  the 
idea  that  the  government  of  the  country  is  entrusted  to  a  com- 
mittee the  members  of  which  are  jointly  responsible  to  the  pop- 
ular chamber  for  the  whole  conduct  of  the  administration,  so 
that  a  hostile  vote  on  any  question  is  a  condemnation  of  each  and 
all  of  them.  Hence  the  theory  implied  that  the  ministers  must 
cling  to  each  other  and  present  to  the  chamber  a  single  front  and 
a  consistent  policy." 

"In  almost  all  the  states  on  the  continent  this  is  true  to  some 
extent ;  and  various  methods  of  parliamentary  procedure  already 
mentioned,  together  with  certain  peculiarities  of  condition  and 
temperament  among  the  people  have  tended  to  foster  it." 

"The  English  parliamentary  practice  has  been  generally  fol- 
lowed so  far  as  the  form  is  concerned  and  the  whole  cabinet  ha- 
bitually resigns  on  a  hostile  vote  of  the  chambers;  but  in  sub- 
stance the  ministers  are  by  no  means  jointly  responsible,  because 
as  soon  as  they  have  resigned  a  new  cabinet  is  formed  which 


Constitutional  Government  307 


often  contains  several  members  of  the  old  one.   (Governments 
of  Continental  Europe,  Lowell,  page  213,  Vol.  1.) 

The  great  distinction  between  a  constitutional  monarchy  and 
a  constitutional  representative  republic  is  in  having  a  monarch 
or  king  in  the  executive  chair  who  holds  his  office  for  life  and 
passes  it  on  to  his  successor,  while  a  president  is  elected  by  the 
people  for  a  limited  term  of  years. 

The  king  or  emperor  claims  the  divine  right  to  rule  and 
places  himself  upon  a  pedestal  above  the  people  and  assumes 
a  superiority  over  them  which  he  seldom  earns,  or  attains  by  his 
own  ability. 


the  code:  civil  or  code:  napoleon. 

Napoleon,  when  First  Consul,  appointed  a  special  commis- 
sion to  draft  a  code.  Difficult  questions  were  referred  to  the 
Council  of  State  over  which  Napoleon  often  presided.  A  new 
Code  Civile  de  Francais  was  promulgated  March  31,  1804.  Con- 
sequently it  has  been  in  operation  no  years. 

Since  September  4,  1870,  it  has  been  called  the  code  civil. 
It  is  patterned  after  the  Institutes  of  Justinian  in  some  respects. 
Many  changes  have  been  made  since  1871.  A  commission  was 
appointed  in  1904  to  revise  the  code,  containing  2,281  articles. 
(See  La  Code  Civil,  livre  due  Centenaire,  Paris,  1904.) 

There  are  four  other  codes. 

The  Code  Civil  Procedure,  of  1,042  articles. 

The  Code  of  Commerce,  648  articles. 

The  Code  of  Criminal  Instruction,  648  articles. 

The  Penal  Code,  284  articles. 
"In  accordance  with  the  French  interpretation  of  the  theory 
of  the  separation  of  powers,  it  is  the  general  rule  on  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe  that  the  ordinary  courts  administer  only  pri- 
vate laws  between  citizens  and  the  questions  affecting  the  rights 
and  status  of  public  officials  are  withdrawn  from  their  jurisdic- 
tion."  (A.  Lawrence  Lowell,  Government  of  England,  Vol.   1, 

P-  7.) 

"In  France  there  is  a  distinction  between  public  law  and 
private  law.  There  are  ordinary  administrative  courts.  Each 
maintains  exclusive  jurisdiction.  There  is  one  law  for  the  citi- 
zen and  another  for  the  public  official.  The  judges  of  the  ad- 
ministration courts  can  be  removed  by  the  president;  the  ordi- 
nary judges  cannot  be  removed  without  the  consent  of  the  Court 
of  Cassation.  These  are  appointed  by  the  President  on  the  rec- 
ommendation of  the  minister  of  justice. 


308  Constitutional  Government 


"A  tribunal  is  appointed  to  settle  questions  of  jurisdiction, 
composed  of  the  minister  of  justice,  of  three  members  of  the 
highest  Court  of  Cassation,  of  three  members  of  the  highest  ad- 
ministration court. 

"All  the  members  are  chosen  for  three  years  except  the  minis- 
ter of  justice,  who  presides.''  (See  Prof.  Dicey's  Law  of  the 
Constitution,  Chap.  XII.,  Comparison  English  and  French  Sys- 
tems). 

History  shows  that  the  vacilating  methods  in  France  were 
brought  about  mostly  during  the  period  in  which  the  monarchi- 
cal system  of  government  prevailed.  The  success  of  any  republic 
rests  upon  the  belief  in  a  Divine  Ruler,  above  the  government,  not 
in  the  divine  right  of  earthly  kings  as  claimed  by  monarchies ;  and 
upon  universal  compulsory  education  and  loyalty  to  the  constitu- 
tion, which  should  be  regarded  with  more  respect  than  any  king, 
because  it  is  the  great  charter  of  the  people's  liberty. 

The  French  republic  has  in  some  measure  gained  prestige 
since  1871,  and  eight  presidents  have  managed  under  many  diffi- 
culties to  continue  the  republican  form  to  the  present  time. 
Louis  Adolphe  Thiers  1871-1873 ;  Marshal  MacMahon,  who 
favored  a  monarchy,  1873-1879;  Jules  Grevy,  1879-1887;  F. 
Sadi-Carnot,  1887- 1894,  murdered  at  Lyons  by  an  anarchist  1894, 
Casimir-Perier,  June  1894-June  1895,  Resigned;  Felix  Faure, 
19 1 3,  and  Raymond  Poincare,  January  17th,  1913.  Elected  for 
seven  years. 

Instead  of  paying  25,000,000  francs  to  a  king  or  emperor, 
the  republic  now  pays  its  president,  equally  if  not  more  compe- 
tent to  rule,  the  sum  of  1,200,000  francs  a  year,  half  as  his  sal- 
ary and  half  to  cover  traveling  expenses  and  the  outlays  incum- 
bent upon  him  as  the  official  representative  of  the  nation. 

FRENCH    MINISTRY    RESIGNS;    AND    ARISTIDE    BRIAND    FORMS    NEW 
ministry:    FOREMOST    FRENCHMAN    ON    UST. 

I916. 

Aristide  Briand,  premier  and  minister  of  foreign  affairs ; 
Charles  De  Freycinet,  vice  president  of  the  cabinet  and  minister 
of  state;  Gen.  J.  S.  Gallieni,  minister  of  war;  Rene  Viviani, 
minister  of  justice ;  Louis  J.  Malvy,  minister  of  the  interior ;  Rear 
Admiral  Lacaze,  minister  of  marine ;  Alexander  Ribot,  minister 
of  finance;  Prof.  Paul  Painleve,  minister  of  public  instruction 
and  inventions  concerning  national  defense ;  Marcel  Sembat,  min- 
ister of  public  works ;  Etienne  Clementel,  minister  of  commerce ; 
Gaston  Dumergue,  minister  of  colonies ;  Jules  Meline,  minister 
of  agriculture;  Albert  Metin,  minister  of  labor;  Emil  Combes, 


Constitutional  Government  309 


Leon    Bourgeois,    Denys    Cochin,    and    Jules    Guesde,    ministers 
without  portfolio. 

PRESIDENT  POINCARE   PREDICTS   THE  END  OF  THE  WAR. 

A  Paris  dispatch  says:  "Nineteen  hundred  and  sixteen  will 
be  our  year  of  victory,"  says  Monsieur  Poincare  in  a  New  Year 
message  to  "The  Officers  and  Soldiers  of  France,"  which  was 
distributed  along  the  the  whole  front. 

Everywhere  it  is  the  same,  he  says,  a  determined  resolution  to 
hold  fast,  to  endure  and  to  vanquish.  Shall  we  tomorrow  be  the 
vassals  of  a  foreign  empire?  Shall  our  industries,  our  com- 
merce, our  agriculture  be  placed  forever  under  the  influence  of 
a  power  which  openly  flatters  itself  on  aspiring  to  universal  dom- 
ination, or  shall  we  safeguard  our  economic  independence  and 
national  autonomy? 

This  is  a  terrible  problem,  which  admits  of  no  halfway  solu- 
tion. Any  peace  which  came  to  us  with  suspicious  form  and 
equivocal  purpose  would  bring  us  only  dishonor,  ruin  and  servi- 
tude. The  free  and  pure  genius  of  our  race,  our  most  venerated 
traditions,  the  ideas  which  are  dearest  to  us,  the  interests  of  our 
citizens,  the  fortunes  of  our  country,  the  soul  of  the  nation,  ev- 
erything which  has  been  left  by  our  ancestors  and  all  that  we 
ourselves  own  would  be  the  prey  of  Germanic  brutality. 

No  French  persons  desired  this  war.  All  the  governments 
since  1871  have  endeavored  to  avoid  such  a  war.  Now  that  it 
has  been  declared  against  us  in  spite  of  ourselves,  we  must  carry 
it  on  with  our  faithful  allies  until  we  have  gained  victory,  the 
annihilation  of  German  militarism  and  the  entire  reconstitution 
of  France. 

You  will  win,  the  message  concludes.  The  year  which  is  be- 
ginning will  bring  you,  my  friends,  elation  of  heart  for  having 
accomplished  the  defeat  of  the  enemy  and  the  joy  of  returning 
to  your  homes,  there  to  celebrate  the  victory  calmly  with  those 
whom  you  love.  (Christian  Science  Monitor.) 

FRANCO-PRUSSIAN    WAR    ANNIVERSARY. 

July  24,  191 5  was  the  forty-fifth  anniversary  of  the  declara- 
tion of  war  by  France  against  Prussia,  which  took  place  July 
19,  1870.  It  had  been  reported  that  war  was  declared  on  the 
15th,  and  indeed  ever  since  that  day  war  had  been  certain,  but 
each  side  put  off  the  formal  break  in  the  hope  of  gaining  a  slight 
moral  advantage  by  forcing  the  other  to  make  it,  and  not  until 
July  19  did  Napoleon  III.  definitely  announce  a  state  of  war. 


310  Constitutional  Government 


On  July  15,  1870,  the  New  York  Times  said  editorially:  "It 
is  still  neither  war  nor  peace.  The  Emperor  is  like  a  man  on  the 
verge  of  taking  a  step  which  must  be  irrevocable  and  may  over- 
whelm him  in  disaster."  These  remarks  could  have  been  par- 
alleled from  any  New  York  paper  during  the  last  week  of  July, 
1914.  The  Emperor  here  referred  to,  of  course,  is  Napoleon  III. 
Further  on  in  the  same  article  occurs  the  passage :  "M.  Prevost 
Paradol  insisted  two  years  ago  that  it  was  the  destiny  of  France 
to  crush  the  colossus  which  threatened  to  bestride  Europe. 
*  *  *  But  the  Emperor  has  allowed  no  one  to  suspect  his 
plans,  preferring  to  let  his  project  break  upon  the  world  like  a 
thunderbolt  from  a  clear  sky.  *  *  *  Before  many  people 
understand  what  it  all  about  two  vast  armies  will  have  met  in  the 
shock  of  battle. 

Indeed,  it  was  not  till  a  long  time  later  that  people  understood 
just  what  it  was  about;  the  pretext  was  the  candidacy  of  a 
Hohenzollern  Prince  for  the  throne  of  Spain,  but  the  candidacy 
was  withdrawn  on  July  12.  War  was  precipitated  by  Bis- 
marck's editing  of  the  famous  telegram  from  Ems  describing  the 
interview  between  the  King  of  Prussia  and  Count  Benedetti,  the 
French  Minister,  in  which  the  latter  presented  Napoleon's  de- 
mand that  the  candidacy  should  not  recur,  and  was  politely  re- 
fused. Bismarck  so  altered  the  news  message  as  to  make  it  ap- 
pear that  there  were  practically  reciprocal  insults.  The  funda- 
mental cause,  however,  was  the  rivalry  between  France  and 
Prussia  for  the  dominant  position  on  the  Continent,  with  which 
was  bound  up  the  German  desire  to  unify  the  nation  and  Napol- 
eon's unwillingness  to  see  this  great  power  grow  up  on  his  fron- 
tier, and  the  constant  series  if  irritations  which  had  grown  up 
out  of  Napoleon's  vain  attempt  to  get  "compensation"  for  the 
successive  gains  of  Prussia  in  the  previous  decade. 

On  July  18,  1870,  The  New  York  Times  quoted  The  London 
Times  as  saying:  "France  without  a  shadow  of  excuse  or  jus- 
tification plunges  Europe  into  a  war  of  which  no  living  person 
may  see  the  end,"  and  continues:  "The  proofs  increase  every 
hour  that  this  will  be  a  war  of  colossal  magnitude.  It  is  said  that 
the  United  States  cannot  possibly  be  drawn  into  it.  But  how 
can  there  be  any  certainty  of  that?  A  misunderstanding  with 
regard  to  an  American  vessel,  intercepted  on  the  high  seas  by 
a  belligerent  power,  might  compel  us  to  take  an  attitude  which 
would  end  the  war."  And  on  the  same  page  there  is  an  editorial 
with  the  familiar  heading:    "Where  Are  Our  Merchant  Ships?" 

The  war  which  followed  lasted  about  seven  months,  saw  the 
overthrow  of  the  French  Empire  after  the  first  month  of  disas- 
ters, the  rebuilding  of  a  provisional  Government  which  heroically 
defended  Paris  in  a  long  siege  and  raised  enormous  volunteer 


Constitutional  Government  311 


armies  to  relieve  the  capital,  and  the  final  surrender  of  France 
after  Paris  had  capitulated  and  the  untrained  armies  of  the 
south  had  been  beaten.  France  lost  Alsace  and  Lorraine  and 
paid  $1,000,000,000  war  indemnity. 

With  all  the  striking  parallels  between  the  situation  in  the 
Summers  of  1870  and  1914,  there  are  two  remarkable  contrasts. 
One  is  the  speed  of  mobilization.  In  1870  both  sides  began  to 
mobilize  July  15,  but  it  was  eighteen  days  later,  Aug.  2,  before 
the  first  skirmish  occurred  at  Saarbruecken,  and  not  till  Aug.  6 
was  the  first  pitched  battle  between  entire  armies. 

Last  year  mobilization  began  in  the  last  day  or  so  of  July. 
The  first  general  engagements  took  place  between  the  15th  and 
20th  of  August,  but  this  delay  was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  Ger- 
mans were  marching  through  Belgium,  and  the  French  had 
wasted  much  of  their  martial  strength  in  the  Alsatian  adven- 
ture. The  attacks  on  Liege  on  Aug.  5,  less  than  a  week  after 
mobilization  began,  were  an  engagement  of  greater  magnitude 
than  that  of  Weissenburg,  fought  Aug.  4,  1870,  after  each  side 
had  had  more  than  three  weeks  to  get  ready. 

The  other  difference  lies  in  the  fact  that  while  in  each  case 
Germany  beat  France  at  the  start,  in  1870  her  victories  were 
decisive.  MacMahon's  army  was  so  badly  beaten  at  Woerth  on 
Aug.  6  that  it  had  to  retire  to  Chalons,  and  did  not  recover  for 
two  or  three  weeks.  Meanwhile,  the  other  great  French  army, 
that  of  Bazaine,  had  been  outflanked,  headed  off  at  Mars-la- 
Tour  and  Gravelotte,  and  finally  driven  back  into  Metz  and  shut 
up.     Then  MacMahon  was  attacked  and  annihilated  at  Sedan. 

The  French  defeats  at  Charleroi  and  in  Luxemburg  and  the 
British  defeat  at  Mons  last  August,  were  not  as  severe  as  that 
of  Woerth,  in  the  first  place ;  and  Joffre  kept  his  troops  in  hand. 
Instead  of  being  outflanked  or  headed  off,  he  held  his  armies  to- 
gether, and  finally  stopped  the  Germans  on  the  Marne. 


FRENCH    SCIENTISTS   FORSEE   A    NEW   FRANCE. 

"France  and  the  French  After  the  War"  is  the  subject  of 
much  speculation  by  philosophers,  scientists,  and  doctors.  Emile 
Boutroux,  the  French  philosopher,  thinks  France  will  come  out 
of  the  trial  better  and  greater  in  spite  of  all  of  the  destruction 
of  life  and  property,  says  the  Associated  Press. 

"So  many  human  lives  taken,  so  many  masterpieces  of  the  past 
reduced  to  powder,  so  much  artistic  and  material  wealth  anni- 
hilated stupefies  us  and  leaves  our  souls  in  incurable  pain,"  he 
says.  "All  these  sacrifices,  however,  may  in  certain  ways  con- 
tribute directly  to  the  betterment  of  life  in  our  country. 


312  Constitutional  Government 


"Our  cities  and  the  country  contain  a  great  many  unhealthy 
habitations,"  he  declares,  "that  we  were  unable  to  decide  our- 
selves to  demolish.  We  hesitated  before  the  difficulties  and  be- 
fore the  expense.  War  has  put  us  face  to  face  with  the  accom- 
plished fact.  Unhealthy  and  incommodious  buildings  have  dis- 
appeared and  will  be  replaced  by  constructions  conforming  to 
hygienic  laws  and  to  the  needs  of  modern  life.  Many  defective 
conditions  of  our  existence  will  thus  be  improved  by  the  recon- 
struction that  will  be  imposed  upon  us. 

"Death  awakens  life.  After  1870  France  pulled  herself  to- 
gether and  pushed  out  vigorously  in  every  direction.  What  shall 
be  its  power  of  development  after  this  terrible  trial,  above  all 
if  the  issue  is  favorable  to  us  ? 

"The  cause  of  the  low  birthrate,"  Boutreaux  thinks,  "resides 
primarily  in  selfishness  and  the  disposition  to  consider  only  the 
present  or  the  immediate  future.  With  confidence  in  the  future, 
with  a  vast  distant  perspective  opened  up,  there  is  awakened  a 
desire  to  glorify  one's  self  in  one's  descendants.  *  *  *  A 
vast  career  will  open  up  before  science,  before  art,  literature,  and 
before  practical  activity  in  all  its  forms. 

"Measures  that  are  most  contrary  to  the  indifference  of  yes- 
terday are  today  accepted  without  objection,  such  as  the  prohibi- 
tion of  the  traffic  of  absinthe.  Civilization  has  been  loaded  down 
with  a  thousand  fictitious  needs,  foreign  and  harmful  to  nature; 
a  great  many  of  them  are  so  many  chains  upon  nature,  and  as 
many  causes  of  fragility  and  weakness.  Now,  all  at  once,  lack- 
ing all  these  superfluities,  we  feel  no  sense  of  privation.  We 
are  conscious,  on  the  contrary,  of  re-entering  upon  full  posses- 
sion of  our  strength  and  of  being  better  able  to  dispose  of  it  for 
the  accomplishment  of  useful  work. 

"War,"  he  says,  "not  only  liberates  us  from  selfish  passions, 
but  teaches  positive  virtues ;  the  value  of  decision,  intrepidity, 
sacrifices  of  life  to  honor  and  to  the  fatherland ;  it  requires  of  us 
patience,  and  this  people  who  were  thought  incapable  of  sup- 
porting in  silence  long  and  painful  trials,  this  people  of  whom  its 
enemies  said  that  'they  would  come  to  their  aid  by  insurrection' 
remained  calm  and  resolute.  *  *  *  The  French,  it  was  said, 
were  not  apt  to  act  collectively.  Their  incurable  individualism 
precluded  vivacity  of  mind  and  talent,  except  to  combat  one  an- 
other. Examples  they  have  given  of  unity  and  the  efficiency  of 
collective  effort  will  have  as  important  an  effect  upon  France  of 
the  future  as  any  other  of  the  lessons  of  the  war." 

Dr.  Chauffard,  of  the  Academy  of  Medicine,  before  the  Alli- 
ance d'Hygiene  Sociale,  speaking  of  the  mobilization  order  and 
comparing  it  to  one  of  the  great  physical  phenomena  which  con- 
stantly trouble  the  universe,  like  earthquakes,  tidal  waves,  &c, 


Constitutional  Government  313 


says  that  "the  manner  in  which  France  supported  the  shock 
augurs  well  for  the  health  of  the  race  after  the  war." 

"Adaptation,"  he  says,  "is  the  greatest  law  of  biology,  for  we 
live  and  preserve  our  physical  and  moral  life  by  adaptation  only. 
He  who  is  incapable  of  adapting  himself  succumbs.  The  French 
race  adapted  itself  admirably  to  this  unforeseen  danger,  and  to 
realize  this  it  is  only  sufficient  to  remember  what  Paris  and  what 
France  were  at  the  moment  the  mobilization  order  was  published. 
For  the  calm  confidence  with  which  each  one  went  to  his  duty  we 
are  indebted  to  a  quality  that  we  did  not  know  we  possessed  per- 
haps to  that  degree — nervous  stability,  to  the  mastery  of  our- 
selves, to  the  control  that  we  have  not  lost  of  our  nervous  system. 

"In  a  collectivity  there  are  always  a  certain  number  of  in- 
dividuals who  suffice  for  their  daily  life,  but  who  are  unable  to 
accomplish  a  more  arduous  task  or  to  support  an  unforeseen 
shock.  When  the  hour  of  the  trial  arrives  those  succumb.  They 
lose  their  heads.  During  the  first  days  of  the  mobilization  a 
number  of  such  subjects  profoundly  troubled  mentally,  arrived 
at  the  hospitals,  but  in  reality  their  number  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  healthy  subjects  was  very  small,  and  many  of  these 
troubles  were  of  very  short  duration.  The  trial  was  severe,  but 
it  was  to  our  honor  because  it  bears  witness  that  the  French  race 
has  not  degenerated. 

"We  knew  by  long  experience  that  every  war  involves  the  out- 
break of  a  great  many  diseases,  and  we  were  very  agreeably  as- 
tonished during  the  first  three  months  of  this  war  that  sickness 
was  very  rare  in  all  our  sanitary  stations.  The  army  in  bar- 
racks reflects  the  state  of  health  of  the  civil  population  with 
which  it  is  associated.  If  we  were  not  at  war  we  should  now  see 
the  diseases  of  the  season  appear  in  all  our  garrisons,  but  on 
the  contrary,  the  army  in  action  is  remarkably  free  from  them, 
and,  fortunately,  in  proportion  to  the  dead,  the  wounded  and  the 
sick  there  will  remain  a  far  greater  number  who  have  escaped  all 
the ,  dangers.  These  will  come  back  hardened,  more  resistant 
than  they  were  before,  ennobled,  ripened  and  better  tempered 
physically  as  morally." 

This  improved  condition  of  the  survivors,  Dr.  ChaufTard 
thinks,  will  more  than  offset  the  decrease  in  the  birthrate,  due 
to  the  many  deaths,  and  for  that  reason  he  considers  that  the 
general  physical  condition  of  the  French  race  will  be  improved 
by  the  war. 


Constitutional  Government  315 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  NORWAY. 

Norway  had  existed  as  an  independent  kingdom  from  872 
until  1397  when  Queen  Margrete  of  Denmark  (mother  of  the 
last  Norwegian  king,  Olaf  Haakonson)  joined  the  three  king- 
doms, Norway,  Denmark  and  Sweden  by  the  "Union  of  Kal- 
mar."  Sweden  broke  away  from  this  union  in  1524,  but  Nor- 
way remained  under  Danish  rule  (practically  as  a  province)  till 
the  peace  of  Kiel,  January  14,  1814,  when  it  was  given  up  to 
Sweden  by  Denmark.  This  was  met  with  a  determined  opposi- 
tion from  the  Norwegian  people,  who  immediately  established 
a  provisional  government  and  elected  delegates  to  a  Diet  which 
on  May  17,  1814,  promulgated  the  "Constitution  of  Norway." 
The  former  Danish  viceroy  in  Norway,  Prince  Christian  Fred- 
erik  (later  king  of  Denmark),  was  elected  king.  A  war  with 
Sweden  resulted,  lasting  until  August,  1814,  when,  at  the  Con- 
vention of  Moss,  the  two  kingdoms  were  united,  and  the  crown 
passed  to  the  Swedish  king,  Carl  XIII.  The  new  constitution 
adopted  November  4,  1814,  provides  that  "Norway  is  a  free, 
independent,  indivisible  and  inalienable  kingdom  united  to 
Sweden  under  one  king,"  the  united  kingdoms  in  their  foreign 
relations  to  be  regarded  as  one  state,  but  in  all  else  to  be  inde- 
pendent sovereignties  with  two  distinct  forms  of  government. 

The  attempts  of  Carl  XIII.  (1814-1818),  and  his  successor, 
Carl  XIV.,  Johan  (1818-1844),  to  override  the  constitution  and 
extend  the  royal  prerogatives  led  to  many  parliamentary  con- 
tests, some  of  them  quite  serious.  A  better  feeling  existed  dur- 
ing the  reign  of  Oscar  I.  (1844-59),  and  Carl  XV.  (1859- 1872), 
but  when  Oscar  II.  became  king  in  1872  the  bond  between  the 
two  nations  had  practically  been  reduced  to  a  mere  personal 
union.  When,  in  1897,  the  radical  party  in  Norway  came  into 
power,  the  Storthing  passed  several  acts  providing  for  a  separate 
diplomatic  and  consular  service  for  Norway,  for  the  elimination 
of  the  "union  jack"  in  the  Norwegian  flag,  and  for  several  other 
changes  in  the  constitution  along  the  same  lines.  The  king 
strongly  opposed  these  attempts  to  give  the  country  greater  in- 
dependence, and  although  he  finally  yielded  on  the  flag  question 
the  dissatisfaction  increased  until,  in  the  spring  of  1905,  the 
Storthing,  backed  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  people,  termin- 


316  Constitutional  Government 


ated  the  alliance  with  Sweden,  and  issued  a  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence. A  Danish  prince,  Carl,  was  elected  king  and  as  such 
assumed  the  name  of  Haakon  VII.  The  changes  in  the  constitu- 
tion necessitated  by  the  altered  conditions  were  made  by  the  same 
Storthing.  Very  few  changes  have  since  been  made,  the  only 
noteworthy  one  being  the  act  of  June  n,  19 13,  which  grants 
women  equal  franchise  with  men  (Section  50  of  the  Constitution) 
— the  first  legislation  of  its  kind  in  Europe. 

— Peter  B.  Olsen. 

CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  KINGDOM  OF  NORWAY. 

Translated  from  the  Edition  of  may  17,   1914,  published 
by  authority  of  the  parliament  of  norway. 

a.     religion  and  form  of  government. 

Article  i.  The  Kingdom  of  Norway  is  a  free,  independent, 
indivisible  and  inalienable  state.  Its  form  of  government  is  a 
limited,  hereditary  monarchy. 

Article  2.  The  Evangelical  Lutheran  religion  shall  continue 
as  the  established  religion  of  the  state.  Such  inhabitants  as  pro- 
fess the  same  shall  educate  their  children  therein.  Jesuits  must 
not  be  tolerated. 


B.      THE  EXECUTIVE  POWER,  THE  KING  AND  THE  ROYAL  FAMILY. 

Article  3.    The  executive  power  shall  be  vested  in  the  King. 

Article  4.  The  King  shall  constantly  profess,  maintain  and 
defend  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  religion. 

Article  5.  The  King's  person  is  sacred;  he  can  neither  be 
censured  nor  impeached.  The  responsibility  rests  on  his  min- 
istry. 

Article  6.  The  succession  shall  be  lineal  and  agnatic  so  that 
only  a  son  born  in  wedlock  can  succeed  the  father.  The  nearer 
line  shall  precede  the  farther,  and  the  older  person  in  the  line 
the  younger. 

A  posthumous  child  shall  be  deemed  in  the  line  of  succession, 
and  shall  take  his  appropriate  place  therein  as  soon  as  born. 
When  a  Prince  who  is  heir  to  the  Crown  of  Norway  is  born,  his 
name  and  date  of  birth  shall  be  reported  to  the  next  Storthing 
in  session,  and  entered  in  its  journal. 

Article  7.  If  no  Prince,  heir  to  the  Crown,  be  living,  the 
King  may  propose  a 'successor  to  the  Storthing  which  shall  have 


Constitutional  Government  317 


power  to  choose  a  successor,  if  the  choice  of  the  King  is  not  ap- 
proved. 

Article  8.  The  age  of  majority  of  the  King  shall  be  pre- 
scribed by  law.  The  King  shall  publicly  proclaim  himself  of  age 
as  soon  as  he  has  attained  his  majority. 

Article  9.  As  soon  as  the  King,  on  coming  of  age,  assumes 
the  government,  he  shall  take  the  following  oath  before  the 
Storthing :  "I  promise  and  swear  that  I  will  govern  the  kingdom 
of  Norway  in  conformity  with  its  constitution  and  laws,  so  help 
me  the  all-powerful,  omniscient  God."  If  no  Storthing  is  then 
in  session,  the  oath  shall  be  deposited  in  writing  with  the  min- 
istry, and  shall  be  solemnly  repeated  by  the  King,  at  the  next 
Storthing. 

Article  10.    Repealed,  March  14,  1908. 

Article  II.  The  King  shall  reside  in  Norway  and  must  not 
leave  the  country  for  a  longer  period  than  six  months  at  a  time 
without  permission  from  the  Storthing.  Otherwise  he  shall  for- 
feit his  right  to  the  throne. 

The  King  must  not  accept  any  other  crown  or  govern  any 
other  country  without  the  consent  of  the  Storthing  by  a  two- 
thirds  vote. 

Article  12.  The  King  shall  appoint  a  ministry  of  Norwegian 
citizens,  who  shall  be  not  less  than  thirty  years  of  age.  The 
ministry  shall  consist  of  one  Minister  of  State,  and  not  less  than 
seven  other  members.  The  King  shall  apportion  the  public  busi- 
ness among  the  members  of  the  ministry  in  such  manner  as  he 
deems  best.  The  King,  may,  on  extraordinary  occasions,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  regular  members  of  the  ministry,  summon  other  Nor- 
wegian citizens,  not  members  of  the  Storthing,  to  a  seat  in  the 
ministry.  Father  and  son,  or  two  brothers,  shall  not  have  a  seat 
in  the  ministry  at  the  same  time. 

Article  13.  When  traveling  within  the  boundaries  of  Nor- 
way the  King  may  leave  the  administration  of  the  domestic  af- 
fairs of  the  realm  to  the  ministry,  who  shall  carry  on  the  gov- 
ernment in  the  name  and  on  behalf  of  the  King.  They  shall 
sacredly  conform  as  well  to  the  provisions  of  this  constitution 
as  to  the  several  instructions  in  harmony  therewith,  prescribed 
to  them  by  the  King.  Their  transactions  shall  be  determined  by 
vote,  and  in  case  of  an  equal  division  the  Minister  of  State,  or, 
in  his  absence,  the  senior  member,  shall  have  two  votes. 

They  shall  present  to  the  King  a  record  of  all  cases  disposed  of 
by  them. 

Article  14.    Repealed,  June  30,  189 1. 

Article  15.    Repealed,  November  18,  1905. 

Article  16.  The  King  shall  prescribe  rules  for  all  public  re- 
ligious and  church  service  and  for  all  meetings  and  conventions 


318  Constitutional  Government 


relating  to  religious  affairs,  and  he  shall  take  care  that  the  public 
instructors  of  religion  adhere  to  the  standards  prescribed  for 
them. 

Article  17.  The  King  may  enact  and  repeal  ordinances  re- 
lating to  commerce,  customs,  industrial  pursuits  and  public  or- 
der, not,  however,  in  conflict  with  the  constitution  or  the  laws 
of  the  Storthing,  passed  pursuant  to  the  provisions  of  articles 
yy,  78  and  79  of  this  constitution.  Such  acts  of  the  King  shall 
remain  provisionally  in  force  until  the  next  session  of  the  Storth- 
ing. 

Article  18.  The  King  shall,  ordinarily,  cause  the  taxes  and 
imposts,  levied  by  the  Storthing  to  be  collected. 

Article  19.  The  King  shall  take  care  that  the  estates  and  re- 
galia of  the  State  be  used  and  managed  in  the  manner  prescribed 
by  the  Storthing,  and  to  the  greatest  advantage  of  the  public. 

Article  20.  The  King  shall  have  power,  in  council,  to  pardon 
offenders  after  conviction.  The  offender  shall,  however,  have 
the  option  to  accept  the  pardon  of  the  King  or  to  suffer  the  pun- 
ishment adjudged.  No  pardon  or  reprieve,  except  the  remission 
of  the  death  penalty,  shall  be  granted  in  cases  prosecuted  by  the 
Odelsthing  in  the  Court  of  Impeachment. 

Article  21.  The  King,  after  hearing  his  Ministry,  shall  ap- 
point and  induct  all  civil,  ecclesiastical  and  military  officials,  who 
shall  take  an  oath  of  obedience  and  fealty  to  the  Constitution  of 
the  King,  or  who,  if  relieved  by  law  from  such  an  oath,  shall 
solemnly  declare  their  fealty  to  the  same.  Royal  Princes  shall 
not  hold  civil  office. 

Article  22.  The  King  may,  after  taking  the  advice  of  the 
Ministry,  without  the  warrant  of  judicial  decree,  remove  from 
office  the  Minister  of  State  and  other  members  of  his  cabinet  as 
well  as  officials  in  the  bureaus  of  the  Ministry,  Ambassadors  and 
Consuls,  the  chief  civil  and  ecclesiastical  officials,  the  highest 
commanding  officers  of  regiments  and  other  military  bodies,  of 
forts  and  of  men-of-war.  Whether  pensions  shall  be  granted  to 
officials  thus  removed,  shall  be  determined  by  the  next  Storthing, 
but  in  the  meantime  they  shall  continue  to  receive  two-thirds  of 
their  former  salary. 

Other  officials  are  only  liable  to  suspension  by  the  King,  and 
when  suspended,  shall  at  once  be  proceeded  against  in  the  Courts, 
and  shall  not  without  judgment  be  removed,  nor  transferred 
without  their  consent. 

Any  public  official  may  be  discharged  without  action  of  a  court 
when  he  has  reached  a  certain  age,  to  be  fixed  by  law. 

Article  23.  The  King,  at  his  pleasure,  may  confer  orders  of 
merit,  in  recognition  of  distinguished  services,  to  be  publicly  an- 
nounced, but  no  other  rank  or  title  than  that  conferred  by  an 


Constitutional  Government  319 


office  occupied.  Such  orders  shall  relieve  no  one  from  the  duties 
and  burdens  common  to  all  citizens,  nor  shall  they  confer  any 
preference  in  securing  admission  to  the  public  service.  Officials, 
honorably  discharged,  shall  retain  the  title  and  rank  of  the  office 
they  occupied.  No  personal  or  mixed  hereditary  prerogatives 
shall  hereafter  be  conferred  on  anyone. 

Article  24.  The  King  may,  at  pleasure,  select  and  dismiss 
the  employes  and  officers  of  his  royal  household. 

Article  25.  The  King  shall  be  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
land  and  naval  forces  of  the  realm.  These  forces  shall  neither 
be  increased  nor  diminished  without  the  consent  of  the  Storthing. 
They  shall  not  be  placed  in  the  service  of  foreign  powers,  nor 
shall  the  military  forces  of  any  foreign  powers,  except  auxiliary 
troops  to  repel  hostile  attack,  be  brought  within  the  realm  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  Storthing. 

Norway's  troops  and  coast  flotilla  shall  not  be  employed  in  of- 
fensive war  without  the  consent  of  the  Storthing.  The  home 
guard  and  other  Norwegian  troops,  not  classed  as  troops  of  the 
line,  shall  never  be  employed  outside  of  the  boundaries  of  Nor- 
way without  the  consent  of  the  Storthing. 

Article  26.  The  King  shall  have  power  to  call  out  the  troops, 
to  commence  war  and  make  peace,  to  enter  into  treaties,  and  to 
abrogate  the  same,  and  to  send  and  receive  diplomatic  representa- 
tives.    (Repealed,  1905.) 

Article  27.  All  members  of  the  Ministry  without  valid  ex- 
cuse, shall  attend  the  cabinet  meetings,  and  no  action  shall  be 
taken  when  less  than  one-half  of  the  members  are  present. 

Article  28.  Communications  concerning  appointments  to  of- 
fice and  other  matters  of  importance  shall  be  presented  for  con- 
sideration to  the  Ministry  by  the  member  thereof  in  whose  de- 
partment the  business  belongs,  and  he  shall  dispose  of  the  same 
conformable  to  the  decision  of  the  Ministry.  Orders  of  a  strictly 
military  nature  are  excepted  from  this  rule  to  such  an  extent  as 
the  King  shall  decide. 

Article  29.  If  a  member  of  the  Ministry  is  unable,  for  valid 
cause,  to  attend  and  present  for  consideration  matters  pertain- 
ing to  his  department,  the  same  shall  be  presented  by  another 
member  of  the  Ministry,  appointed  for  that  purpose  by  the  King. 
If,  for  valid  cause,  so  many  are  absent  that  not  more  than  half 
of  the  regular  members  are  in  attendance,  then  other  officials 
shall  be  appointed,  in  the  same  manner,  to  sit  in  the  Ministry 
temporarily. 

Article  30.  The  Ministry  shall  keep  a  record  of  all  business 
transacted  by  it.  A  separate  record  shall  be  kept  of  such  diplo- 
matic matters  and  such  orders  to  the  Army  as  the  Ministry  de- 
cides to  keep  secret. 


320  Constitutional  Government 


It  shall  be  the  duty  of  every  member  of  the  Ministry  to  fear- 
lessly express  his  opinion,  to  which  the  King  shall  listen,  but  he 
may  decide  according  to  his  own  judgment.  If  any  member  of 
the  Ministry  finds  that  the  decision  of  the  King  is  in  conflict  with 
the  form  of  government  or  the  laws  of  the  realm,  or  is  mani- 
festly detrimental  to  the  country,  it  is  his  duty  to  vigorously  pro- 
test against  the  same,  and  to  enter  his  objections  in  the  record. 
He  who  does  not  thus  protest,  shall  be  deemed  to  have  con- 
curred with  the  King,  and  shall  be  accountable  therefor,  as  sub- 
sequently determined,  and  may  be  impeached  by  the  Odelsthing 
in  the  Court  of  Impeachment. 

Article  31.  All  decrees  issued  by  the  King  shall  be  counter- 
signed in  order  to  be  valid.  Military  commands  shall  be  counter- 
signed by  the  member  who  has  charge  of  them,  and  other  matters 
by  the  Minister  of  State  or,  in  his  absence,  by  the  ranking  mem- 
ber present. 

Article  32.  Decisions  made  by  the  Ministry  during  the  ab- 
sence of  the  King,  shall  be  issued  in  his  name,  and  attested  by 
the  Ministry. 

Repealed,  Aug.  12,  1908. 

Article  34.  The  heir  apparent,  if  son  of  the  reigning  King, 
shall  bear  the  title  of  Crown  Prince.  The  other  royal  heirs  shall 
be  known  as  Princes,  and  the  royal  daughters  as  Princesses. 

Article  35.  As  soon  as  the  heir  apparent  has  filled  his  18th 
year,  he  shall  be  entitled  to  take  his  seat  in  the  Ministry,  but 
without  vote  or  responsibility. 

Article  36.  No  Prince  of  the  blood  shall  marry  without  the 
consent  of  the  King  nor  must  he  accept  any  other  crown  or  gov- 
ern any  other  country  without  the  consent  of  the  King  and  of 
the  Storthing  (by  a  two-thirds  majority).  If  he  violates  this 
rule,  he  shall  forfeit  his  right  to  the  crown  of  Norway. 

Article  37.  The  royal  Princes  and  Princesses  shall,  personal- 
ly, only  be  answerable  to  the  King,  or  to  such  judge  as  he  may 
ordain  for  them. 

Repealed,  Nov.  18,  1905. 

Article  39-  If  the  King  dies  and  his  successor  is  still  under 
age,  the  Ministry  shall  immediately  issue  a  call  for  a  (special) 
session  of  the  Storthing. 

Article  40.  Until  the  Storthing  is  convened  and  has  provided 
for  the  government  during  the  minority  of  the  King,  the  affairs 
of  the  government  shall  be  conducted  by  the  Ministry  in  con- 
formity with  the  Constitution. 

Article  41.  If  the  King  is  absent  from  the  country  without 
being  engaged  in  war,  or  is  too  ill  to  conduct  the  administration, 
the  prince  who  is  entitled  to  the  succession,  if  of  age,  shall  con- 


Constitutional  Government  321 


duct  the  administration  as  the  temporary  representative  of  the 
King.     If  not,  the  ministry  shall  conduct  the  affairs  of  state. 

Article  42.     Repealed,  Nov.  18,  1905. 

Article  43.  The  selection  of  a  Regency  to  conduct  the  ad- 
ministration for  the  King  during  his  minority  shall  be  made  by 
the  Storthing. 

Article  44.  The  prince  who  conducts  the  administration  in 
the  cases  provided  for  in  Article  41,  aforesaid,  shall  take  the 
following  oath  in  writing  before  the  Storthing : 

"I  promise  and  swear  that  I  will  conduct  the  administration  of 
the  government  according  to  the  constitution  and  the  laws,  so 
help  me  God,  the  omnipotent  and  omniscient."  If  the  Storthing 
is  not  at  that  time  in  session,  the  oath  shall  be  deposited  with 
the  ministry. 

A  prince  who  has  once  taken  this  oath,  does  not  repeat  it. 

Article  45.  As  soon  as  the  administration  of  the  Ministry 
shall  cease,  they  shall  render  an  account  of  the  same  to  the  King 
and  the  Storthing. 

Article  46.  If  those  on  whom  it  is  incumbent,  pursuant  to 
Article  39  fail  to  immediately  convene  the  Storthing,  it  shall  be 
the  peremptory  duty  of  the  Supreme  court,  after  a  lapse  of  four 
weeks,  to  convene  the  same. 

Article  47.  The  management  of  the  education  of  a  King 
under  age,  shall,  if  his  father  has  left  no  written  directions  con- 
cerning the  same,  be  provided  for  by  the  Storthing.  It  shall  be 
the  invariable  rule  to  give  the  King,  during  his  minority,  ample 
instruction  in  the  Norwegian  language. 

Article  48.  If  the  royal  male  line  be  extinct,  and  no  successor 
has  been  selected,  a  new  line  of  kings  shall  be  chosen  by  the 
Storthing.  Meanwhile  the  government  shall  be  conducted  as  in 
Article  40  provided. 


c.     citizenship  and  the  law-making  power. 

Article  49.  The  people  shall  exercise  the  legislative  power 
through  a  Storthing,  composed  of  two  bodies,  a  Lagthing  and 
an  Odelsthing. 

Article  50.  All  Norwegian  citizens,  male  and  female,  dwell- 
ing within  the  realm,  who  have  attained  the  age  of  25  years  and 
have  been  residents  of  the  country  for  five  years,  shall  be  quali- 
fied voters. 

Article  51.  Rules  for  the  registration  and  recording  of 
voters  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Article  52.    The  right  of  suffrage  shall  be  suspended  by : 

a)  Indictment  for  criminal  offenses,  according  to  statute;  by 


322  Constitutional  Government 


b)  being  placed  under  guardianship;  and  in  cases  where 

c)  Repealed  March  7,  1914. 

d)  husband,  wife,  or  children  under  fifteen  years  of  age, 
being  supported,  or  have  during  one  year  immediately  preceding 
the  election,  been  supported  as  public  paupers,  unless  the  amount 
of  such  support  has  been  refunded  by  such  person  before  the 
close  of  registration. 

Support  rendered  in  the  form  of  being  placed  in  a  hospital  or 
an  asylum,  or  to  cover  other  expenses  in  cases  of  sickness,  for 
the  education  of  mentally  delinquent  children,  for  specially  pre- 
scribed education  of  children  in  schools,  or  for  supplying. chil- 
dren with  free  school  books  and  supplies,  shall  not  cause  suspen- 
sion of  the  right  of  suffrage. 

Article;  53.    The  right  of  suffrage  shall  be  forfeited  by; 

a)  having  been  sentenced  for  criminal  offenses  according  to 
statute ;  by 

b)  entering  the  service  of  a  foreign  power,  without  the  consent 
of  the  government ;  by 

c)  acquiring  citizenship  in  a  foreign  country;  and  by 

d)  being  convicted  of  buying  votes,  of  selling  one's  own  vote, 
or  of  voting  more  than  once  in  any  one  election. 

Article  54.  Elections  and  electoral  meetings  shall  be  held 
every  third  year.  They  shall  be  concluded  before  the  end  of  the 
month  of  November. 

Article  55.  Elections  shall  be  managed  according  to  rules 
prescribed  by  law.  Controversies  about  the  right  to  vote  shall 
be  determined  by  the  judges  of  election  from  whose  decision  ap- 
peal may  be  taken  to  the  Storthing. 

Article  56.  Articles  50  to  64  of  this  Constitution  shall  be 
audibly  read  by  the  presiding  judge  of  election  before  the  voting 
begins. 

Article  57.  The  Cities  shall  elect  forty-one  representatives 
to  the  Storthing.  Of  this  number,  one  shall  be  elected  from 
Aalesund  and  Molde  combined ;  one  from  Arendal  and  Grimstad 
combined,  four  from  Bergen,  one  from  Bodo  and  Narvik 
combined,  one  from  Brevik  and  Holmestrand  combined,  two 
from  Drammen,  one  from  Flekkefjord,  one  from  Frederikshala, 
one  from  Frederikstad,  one  from  Hammerfest,  Vardo  og  Vadso 
combined,  one  from  Haugesund,  one  from  Horten,  one  from 
Kongsberg  and  Honefoss,  one  from  Kragero,  five  from  Kris- 
tiania,  two  from  Kristianssand,  one  from  Kristiansund,  one  from 
Larvik  and  Sande fjord  combined,  one  from  Lillehammer,  Hamar, 
Gjovik  og  Kongsvinger  combined,  one  from  Moss  and  Drobak 
combined,  one  from  Porsgrund,  one  from  Risor,  one  from  Sarps- 
borg,  one  from  Skieri,  two  from  Stavanger,  one  from  Tromso, 


Constitutional  Government  323 


four  from  Trondhjem  and  Levanger  combined,  and  one  from 
Tonsberg. 

Cities  not  named  above,  or  which  may  be  hereafter  founded, 
shall  be  attached  to  such  election  district  as  may  be  provided  by 
law. 

§  59.  The  rural  districts  shall  elect  eighty-two  representa- 
tives to  the  Storthing.  Of  these,  five  shall  be  elected  from  the 
county  of  Akershus,  five  from  the  county  of  Nordre  Bergenhus, 
six  from  Londre,  Bergenhus,  four  from  Bratsberg,  four  from 
Buskerud,  two  from  Finmarken,  six  from  Hedemarken,  four 
from  Jarlsberg  and  Laurvik,  five  from  Kristian,  four  from  Lis- 
ter and  Mandal,  four  from  Nedenes,  six  from  Nordland,  five 
from  Romsdal,  five  from  Smaalenene,  five  from  Stavanger,  three 
from  Tromso,  four  from  Nordre  Trondhjem,  and  five  from 
Sondre  Trondhjem. 

§  59.  The  number  of  representatives  shall  always  be  in  the 
ratio  of  one  from  the  cities  to  two  from  the  rural  districts. 

Every  legislative  district  in  which  more  than  one  representa- 
tive is  elected  shall  be  divided  into  as  many  election  districts  as 
there  are  representatves  to  be  elected.  Rules  for  such  division 
and  for  the  management  of  the  elections  shall  be  prescribed  by 
law;  provided,  that,  in  addition  to  the  provisions  of  this  Con- 
stitution, the  following  rules  shall  be  observed: 

a)  Every  city  and,  in  the  rural  districts,  every  parish  and 
every  organized  village,  shall  constitute  an  election  precinct. 
Where  a  city  has  two  or  more  election  districts,  each  such  dis- 
trict shall  constitute  a  precinct.  A  part  of  a  city  which  is  com- 
bined with  one  or  more  other  cities  in  one  district,  shall  be  a 
precinct.  In  the  rural  districts  an  election  district  shall  consist 
of  the  same  or  contiguous  election  precincts.  Changes  in  the 
boundaries  of  an  election  district  which  are  not  necessitated  by 
a  change  in  the  general  administrative  districts  of  the  country, 
shall  have  no  effect  on  the  election  of  representatives  to  the 
Storthing  for  the  period  next  following  such  changes. 

b)  Separate  elections  shall  be  held  in  each  precinct,  at  which 
a  representative  in  the  Storthing  and  an  alternate  for  the  district 
shall  be  elected  by  direct  vote.  Should  a  candidate  for  repre- 
sentative receive  less  than  one-half  of  the  votes  cast  and  officially 
counted  in  the  district,  a  new  election  shall  be  held,  at  which  the 
result  shall  be  decided  bv  simple  plurality  or,  in  case  of  a  tie,  by 
lot. 

Article  60.  Qualified  voters,  being  within  the  country,  who, 
by  reason  of  sickness,  military  service,  or  other  valid  excuse,  are 
unable  to  attend  the  polls,  may,  in  writing,  transmit  their  votes 
to  the  judges  of  election  before  the  polls  are  closed. 

To  what  extent  and  in  what  manner  qualified  voters  living  out- 


324  Constitutional  Government 


side  the  country  may  vote  by  sending  their  written  ballots  to  the 
judges  of  election,  shall  be  subject  to  legislation. 

Article  6i.  No  one  shall  be  elected  Representative  unless  he 
is  thirty  years  of  age,  has  resided  in  the  country  ten  years,  and 
is  a  qualified  voter  in  the  district  from  which  he  is  elected. 

Article  62.  Officials  employed  in  the  bureaus  of  the  Minis- 
try and  the  officials  and  pensionaries  of  the  Court,  are  ineligible 
for  representatives. 

Members  of  the  Ministry  cannot  sit  in  the  Storthing  as  repre- 
sentatives during  their  term  of  office  as  ministers. 

Article  63.  Whoever  is  elected  Representative,  unless  elected 
under  the  second  clause  of  Article  61,  shall  be  required  to  accept 
the  office,  unless  prevented  by  an  excuse  deemed  valid  by  the 
Storthing.  Whoever  has  served  as  Representative  in  three  regu- 
lar sessions  of  the  Storthing  succeeding  the  same  election,  shall 
not  be  bound  to  accept  election  to  the  next  Storthing. 

A  person  who  is  elected  representative  and  is  not  bound  to 
accept  the  election,  must  within  the  time  and  in  the  manner 
prescribed  by  law  declare  whether  he  will  accept  the  office  or 
not. 

If  a  person  is  elected  as  representative  from  two  or  more 
election  districts  within  the  district  in  which  he  is  a  qualified 
voter,  he  shall  decide  which  election  he  will  accept  within  such 
tme  and  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Article  64.  The  representatives-elect  shall  be  furnished  with 
certificates  of  their  election,  the  validity  of  which  shall  be  passed 
upon  by  the  Storthing. 

Article  65.  Each  representative,  and  each  alternate,  who  has 
served  as  such  shall  be  entitled  to  compensation  from  the  State 
treasury  for  traveling  expenses  to  and  from  the  Storthing,  and 
from  the  Storthing  to  his  home,  and  return,  for  a  vacation  of 
at  least  one  month,  and  for  medical  attendance  and  cure  in  case 
of  sickness. 

He  shall  also  be  paid  a  salary  of  three  thousand  crowns  for 
attendance  at  a  regular  session  of  the  Storthing. 

If  a  representative  and  an  alternate  from  the  same  district  both 
have  served  in  a  regular  session,  the  salary  shall  be  divided  be- 
tween them  according  to  the  length  of  time  each  has  served. 

For  attendance  at  an  extra  session  the  compensation  shall  be 
twelve  crowns  per  day. 

Article  66.  Representatives  shall,  except  when  apprehended 
in  public  offences,  be  exempt  from  arrest  during  their  attendance 
at  the  Storthing  and  in  going  to  and  returning  from  the  same; 
and  they  shall  not  be  answerable,  outside  of  the  sessions  of  the 
Storthing,  for  the  expression  of  their  views  therein.     But  every 


Constitutional  Government  325 


Representative  shall  conform  to  the  established   rules  of  pro- 
cedure. 

Article  67.  The  Representatives  elected  in  the  manner  afore- 
said shall  constitute  the  Storthing  of  the  Kingdom  of  Norway. 

Article  68.  The  Storthing  shall,  as  a  rule,  convene  on  the 
first  week-day  after  the  tenth  day  of  January  in  each  year,  at 
the  capital  of  the  Kingdom,  except  when  the  King,  on  account  of 
extraordinary  circumstances,  such  as  hostile  invasion  or  con- 
tagious disease,  shall  designate  some  other  city  in  the  realm 
therefor.  Timely  notice  of  such  designation  shall,  in  such  case, 
be  published. 

Article  69.  The  King  may,  on  extraordinary  occasions,  con- 
vene the  Storthing  at  other  than  the  usual  time.  In  such  case 
the  King  shall  issue  a  proclamation  which  shall  be  read  in  all 
the  churches  of  the  County  seats  at  least  fourteen  days  before 
the  members  of  the  Storthing  shall  assemble  at  the  place  pre- 
scribed. 

Article  70.  Such  extra  session  may  be  adjourned  by  the 
King  at  his  pleasure. 

Article  71.  The  members  of  the  Storthing  shall  serve  as 
such  for  three  successive  years,  as  well  at  all  extra  as  at  all  reg- 
ular sessions  that  may  in  the  meantime  be  held. 

Article  72.  If  the  Storthing  be  assembled  in  extra  session  at 
the  time  a  regular  Storthing  convenes,  the  former  shall  adjourn 
before  the  latter  assembles. 

Article  73.  The  Storthing  shall  select  from  its  members  one- 
fourth  who  shall  constitute  the  Lagthing;  the  remaining  three- 
fourths  shall  constitute  the  Odelsthing.  This  selection  shall  be 
made  at  the  first  regular  Storthing  which  convenes  after  an  elec- 
tion, and  thereafter  the  Lagthing  shall  remain  unchanged  in  all 
Storthings  assembled  after  the  same  election,  except  in  cases  of 
vacancy,  which  shall  be  filled  by  special  election.  Each  Thing 
shall  hold  its  sessions  separately,  and  select  its  own  President  and 
Secretary.  Neither  Thing  shall  be  in  session  unless  two-thirds 
of  its  members  are  present. 

Article  74.  As  soon  as  the  Storthing  has  organized,  the  King, 
or  whoever  he  may  appoint  therefor,  shall  open  its  proceedings 
with  a  speech  from  the  Throne,  wherein  he  shall  give  informa- 
tion regarding  the  condition  of  the  kingdom  and  the  matters  to 
which  he  especially  desires  to  direct  the  attention  of  the  Storth- 
ing. No  deliberation  shall  take  place  in  the  presence  of  the 
King. 

After  the  session  of  the  Storthing  has  been  opened,  the  Min- 
ister of  State  and  the  members  of  the  Ministry  shall  be  entitled  to 
sit  in  the  Storthing  and  in  both  branches  thereof,  and  to  partici- 
pate in  the  proceedings,  without  the  right  to  vote,  in  open  session 


326  Constitutional  Government 


on  a  footing  of  equality  with  the  members,  and  in  executive  ses- 
sion only  to  the  extent  permitted  by  the  Thing. 
Article  75.    The  Storthing  shall  have  power: 

a)  To  enact  and  repeal  laws ;  to  levy  taxes,  imposts,  duties,  and 
other  public  assessments,  but  such  levy  shall  not  remain  in  force 
beyond  the  first  day  of  July  in  the  year  in  which  the  next  regu- 
lar Storthing  convenes,  unless  expressly  revived  by  the  latter. 

b)  To  borrow  money  on  the  credit  of  the  Kingdom; 

c)  To  regulate  the  currency  of  the  Kingdom; 

d)  To  appropriate  the  moneys  necessary  for  the  expenditures 
of  the  government ; 

e)  To  determine  the  amount  which  shall  yearly  be  paid  to  the 
King  for  the  maintenance  of  his  royal  household,  and  to  settle 
the  appanage  of  the  royal  family,  which  shall  not,  however,  con- 
sist of  landed  estates ; 

/)  To  cause  to  be  laid  before  it  the  Journal  of  the  Ministry 
and  all  official  reports  and  documents ;  provided,  that  the  records 
of  diplomatic  affairs  and  military  commands  which  are  of  a 
secret  nature  shall  be  submitted  to  a  committee  consisting  of  not 
more  than  nine  members  selected  from  the  membership  of  the 
Odelsthing,  and  they  may  also  be  submitted  to  the  Odelsthing  if 
a  member  of  said  committee  demands  that  this  branch  of  the 
Storthing  shall  consider  the  same,  or  that  suit  be  brought  in  the 
Court  of  Impeachment. 

g)  To  cause  to  be  communicated  to  it  the  Alliances  and  Treat- 
ies which  the  King,  on  behalf  of  the  state,  has  entered  into  with 
foreign  powers.  Secret  articles  and  treaties  which,  however, 
must  not  conflict  with  those  that  are  published,  shall  be  treated 
according  to  the  rules  laid  down  in  this  section,  litra  f.,  concern- 
ing matters  of  a  secret  nature. 

h)  To  summon  any  person  to  appear  before  it,  in  state  affairs, 
except  the  King  and  royal  family;  but  this  exception  shall  not 
apply  to  royal  princes  holding  public  office ; 

i)  To  revise  temporary  salary  and  pension  lists,  and  to  make 
such  changes  therein  as  may  be  deemed  necessary; 

k)  To  appoint  five  auditors,  who  shall  each  year  audit  the  ac- 
counts of  the  State  and  publish  printed  extracts  of  the  same ;  and 
for  this  purpose  the  accounts  shall  be  submitted  to  the  auditors 
within  six  months  from  the  expiration  of  the  year  for  which  the 
appropriations  of  the  Storthing  have  been  made; 

/)  To  naturalize  foreigners. 

Article  76.  Every  bill  shall  first  be  introduced  in  the  Odels- 
thing, either  by  a  member  thereof  or  by  the  Ministry  through  one 
of  its  members.  If  the  bill  is  there  passed,  it  shall  be  sent  to 
the  Lagthing,  which  may  concur  in  or  reject  it.  In  the  latter 
case  it  shall  be  returned  with  objections  appended,  and  the  same 


Constitutional  Government  327 


shall  be  considered  by  the  Odelsthing,  which  may  either  in- 
definitely postpone  the  bill  or  return  it  to  the  Lagthing  with  or 
without  amendment.  When  a  bill  from  the  Odelsthing  has  been 
twice  presented  to  the  Lagthing  and  has  been  returned  a  second 
time,  rejected,  the  entire  Storthing  shall  assemble  in  joint  session 
and  by  a  two-thirds  vote  dispose  of  the  bill.  At  least  three  days 
must  intervene  between  every  such  distinct  consideration  of  the 
bill. 

Article  77.  When  a  measure,  passed  by  the  Odelsthing,  has 
been  concurred  in  by  the  Lagthing  or  passed  by  the  Storthing  in 
joint  session,  it  shall  be  sent  to  the  King,  with  a  request  for  his 
approval. 

Article  78.  If  the  King  approve  the  measure,  he  shall  affix 
his  signature  thereto,  whereby  it  becomes  a  law.  If  he  disap- 
prove the  same,  he  shall  return  it  to  the  Odelsthing  with  the 
statement  that  for  the  time  being  he  does  not  find  it  expedient  to 
approve  the  same,  in  which  case  the  measure  shall  not  be  again 
submitted  to  the  King  at  the  same  session  of  the  Storthing. 

Article  79.  If  a  measure  has  been  passed  without  amend- 
ment by  three  regular  Storthings,  convened  after  three  separate 
and  successive  elections,  and  separated  from  each  other  by  not 
less  than  two  intervening  regular  Storthings,  and  no  law  in  con- 
flict therewith  having  in  the  meantime,  from  the  first  to  the  last 
passage,  been  passed  by  any  Storthing,  and  the  measure  is  then 
presented  to  the  King  with  the  request  that  his  Majesty  will  not 
refuse  his  approval  to  a  measure  which  the  Storthing,  after  the 
most  mature  consideration,  deem  beneficial,  it  shall  become  a  law 
notwithstanding  the  King  fails  to  approve  the  same  before  the 
adjournment  of  the  Storthing. 

Article  80.  The  Storthing  may  remain  in  session  as  long  as 
it  deems  necessary.  When,  after  having  finished  its  proceedings, 
it  is  adjourned  by  the  King,  he  shall  communicate  to  it  his  action 
upon  the  measures  passed,  (see  §  §  77-79)  by  approving  or  re- 
jecting the  same.  All  measures  not  expressly  approved  by  him, 
shall  be  deemed  rejected. 

Article  81.  All  laws  (except  those  passed  pursuant  to  §  79) 
shall  be  promulgated  in  the  name  of  the  King,  and  under  the  Seal 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Norway,  in  the  following  words : 

"We, — N.  N. — make  known  that  there  has  this  day  been  pre- 
sented to  us  an  Act  of  the  Storthing  of  the  following  tenor: 
(here  follows  the  Act)  which  we  have  accepted  and  approved 
and  hereby  accept  and  approve,  as  law,  under  our  hand  and  the 
seal  of  the  State." 

Article  82.    Repealed  July  7,  1913. 

Article  83.  The  Storthing  shall  have  the  right  to  procure 
the  opinion  of  the  Supreme  Court  upon  judicial  subjects. 


328  Constitutional  Government 


Article  84.  The  Storthing  shall  sit  in  open  session,  and  its 
proceedings  shall  be  printed  and  published,  except  in  cases  other- 
wise determined  by  a  majority  vote. 

Article  85.  Whoever  shall  obey  a  command,  the  purpose  of 
which  is  to  interfere  with  the  freedom  and  safety  of  the  Stor- 
thing, is  guilty  of  treason  against  his  country. 


D.  THE  JUDICIAL  POWER. 

Article  86.  The  members  of  the  Lagthing,  together  with  the 
Supreme  Court  (but  if  the  members  of  the  Lagthing  or  of  the 
Supreme  court  exceed  in  number  respectively  thirty-one  and 
nine,  then,  by  lot,  thirty  members  of  the  Lagthing  and  its  pres- 
ident, and  eight  members  of  the  Supreme  court  and  its  pre- 
siding justice)  shall  constitute  the  Court  of  Impeachment,  which 
shall  try,  without  appeal,  cases  instituted  by  the  Odelsthing 
against  members  of  the  Ministry  and  members  of  the  Supreme 
Court  for  malfeasance  in  office,  and  against  members  of  the 
Storthing  for  offences  committed  by  them  in  their  official  capac- 
ity. The  President  of  the  Lagthing  shall  preside  in  the  Court  of 
Impeachment. 

Article  87.  The  accused  may,  without  cause,  challenge  as 
many  as  one-third  of  the  members  of  the  Court  of  Impeachment, 
provided,  however,  that  the  court  shall  not  consist  of  less  than 
fifteen  members. 

Article  88.  The  Supreme  Court  shall  be  the  tribunal  of  last 
resort,  but  limitation  of  admission  of  cases  before  the  court  may 
be  made  by  law. 

The  Supreme  Court  shall  consist  of  a  presiding  justice  and  at 
least  six  associate  justices. 

Article  89.  In  military  cases  the  Supreme  Court  shall  be  aug- 
mented by  two  high  military  officers  appointed  by  the  King. 

Article  90.  The  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  shall  in  no 
case  be  appealed. 

Article  91.  No  one  shall  be  appointed  a  member  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  before  he  is  thirty  years  of  age. 

E.  GENERAL   PROVISIONS. 

Article  92.  Public  offices  shall  be  filled  only  by  Norwegian 
citizens  who  speak  the  language  of  the  country,  and : 

a)  Who  are  born  within  the  realm  of  parents  who  then  were 
citizens  of  the  country;  or 

b)  Who  are  born  in  foreign  countries  of  Norwegian  parents, 
not  citizens  of  another'  nation ;  or 


Constitutional  Government  329 


c)  Who  shall  hereafter  reside  ten  years  within  the  realm;  or 

d)  Who  shall  be  naturalized  by  the  Storthing. 

Persons  without  these  qualifications  may  however,  be  ap- 
pointed instructors  in  the  university  and  the  higher  schools,  and 
consuls  in  foreign  places. 

No  person  shall  be  appointed  a  high  magistrate  before  he  is 
thirty  years  of  age,  nor  an  inferior  judge,  magistrate,  or  tax  col- 
lector before  he  is  twenty-five  years  of  age. 

Only  persons  who  profess  the  established  religion  of  the  State 
can  be  members  of  the  Ministry.  Rules  governing  the  public 
offices  in  this  respect  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

To  what  extent  women  who  possess  the  qualifications  for  hold- 
ing public  office  required  of  men  under  this  constitution  may 
be  appointed  to  such  offices  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Article  93.    Repealed,  November  18,  1905. 

Article  94.  Measures  shall  be  taken  to  enact,  at  the  next  reg- 
ular Storthing,  or  if  this  is  not  possible,  at  the  following  one,  a 
new  general  civil  and  criminal  code.  In  the  meantime  the  existing 
laws  of  the  State  shall  remain  in  force  so  far  as  they  are  not  in 
conflict  with  this  Constitution  or  temporary  ordinances  mean- 
while issued.  Permanent  taxes  now  existing  shall  continue  as 
levied  until  the  next  Storthing. 

Article  95.  No  dispensations,  writs  of  protection,  or  letters 
of  respite  or  reparation,  shall  be  granted  after  the  new  general 
code  takes  effect. 

Article  96.  No  one  shall  be  tried  except  pursuant  to  law,  nor 
punished  except  pursuant  to  judgment.  Examination  by  means 
of  torture  is  prohibited. 

Article  97.    No  law  shall  be  given  retroactive  effect. 

Article  98.  Fees  paid  to  officials  of  Courts  of  Justice  shall 
not  be  subject  to  any  state  tax. 

Article  99.  No  one  shall  be  arrested  except  in  cases  and 
manner  prescribed  by  law.  Whoever  causes  an  unauthorized  ar- 
rest, or  unlawful  detention,  shall  be  answerable  therefor  to  the 
person  confined.  The  government  shall  have  no  right  to  employ 
military  force  against  the  citizens  otherwise  than  pursuant  to  law, 
except  in  the  case  of  an  assembly  disturbing  the  public  peace  and 
not  immediately  dispersing  after  the  civil  magistrate  has  three 
times  audibly  read  to  them  the  articles  in  the  public  code  relat- 
ing to  riot. 

Article  100.  The  liberty  of  the  press  shall  remain  inviolate. 
No  one  shall  be  punished  for  any  writing,  printed  or  published, 
irrespective  of  its  contents,  unless  he  has  intentionally  and  openly 
manifested  or  urged  others  to  manifest,  disobedience  to  the  laws, 
contempt  for  religion,  morality,  and  the  constitutional  authorities, 
or  resistance  to  the  commands  of  the  same,  or  has  made  false  and 


330  Constitutional  Government 


defamatory  charges  against  any  person.  Every  person  shall  be 
permitted  to  express  freely  his  opinion  upon  the  administration 
of  public  affairs,  or  on  any  other  subject  whatsoever. 

Article  ioi.  New  and  permanent  restrictions  of  industrial 
pursuits  shall  not  be  granted  to  anyone  hereafter. 

Article  102.  Domiciliary  visits  shall  not  be  permitted  except 
in  criminal  cases. 

Article  103.  No  sanctuary  shall  be  allowed  to  persons  who 
hereafter  become  bankrupt. 

Article  104.  Estates  of  inheritance,  or  distributive  shares, 
shall  in  no  case  be  subject  to  confiscation. 

Article  105.  If  public  necessity  requires  any  person  to  re- 
linquish his  real  or  personal  property  for  public  use,  he  shall  re- 
ceive full  compensation  therefor  from  the  State  Treasury. 

Article  106.  The  proceeds  as  well  as  the  income  of  church 
estates  shall  be  devoted  exclusively  to  the  benefit  of  the  church 
and  the  promotion  of  education.  The  property  of  charitable  in- 
stitutions shall  be  devoted  exclusively  to  their  use. 

Article  107.  Allodial  tenure  and  statutory  entailment  shall 
not  be  abolished;  but  the  conditions  under  which — for  the  good 
of  the  state  and  the  advantage  of  the  people — the  same  shall 
continue,  shall  be  prescribed  by  the  next  or  the  following  Stor- 
thing. 

Article  108.  No  Earldoms,  Baronies,  or  entailed  manorial 
estates,  shall  hereafter  be  established. 

Article  109.  Every  citizen,  without  regard  to  birth  or  for- 
tune, shall,  without  exception,  render  military  service  to  his 
country  for  a  certain  time.  The  application  of  this  rule  and  the 
limitations  to  be  placed  on  it  shall  be  regulated  by  law. 

Article  ho.  The  reserve  fund  of  the  State,  amounting  to 
forty  million  crowns,  may  be  used  exclusively  for  the  preven- 
tion of  danger  to  the  Commonwealth,  or  for  assistance  in  cases  of 
widespread  disaster  in  the  country.  The  reserve  fund  shall  be 
managed  under  rules  prescribed  by  the  Storthing. 

Article  hi.  The  form  and  colors  of  the  Norwegian  flag 
shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Article  112.  If  experience  demonstrates  that  any  part  of 
this  Constitution  of  the  Kingdom  of  Norway  requires  amend- 
ment, the  proposition  therefor  shall  be  presented  at  the  first  or  sec- 
ond regular  Storthing,  succeeding  an  election,  and  notice  thereof 
shall  be  given  by  publication ;  but  no  action  shall  be  taken  there- 
on until  the  first  or  second  regular  Storthing  succeeding  the  next 
election.  Such  amendment  shall  not  contravene  the  principles  of 
this  Constitution,  and  shall  only  relate  to  such  modifications  in 
single  provisions  as  will  not  change  the  spirit  of  this  Constitution, 
and  shall  be  concurred  in  by  two-thirds  of  the  Storthing. 


Constitutional  Government  331 


An  amendment  to  the  Constitution  so  adopted  shall  be  signed 
by  the  president  and  secretary  of  the  Storthing,  and  forwarded  to 
the  King  for  publication  as  part  of  the  Constitution  of  the  King- 
dom of  Norway. 


GENERAI,  I£)WZOW  TALKS  ON    NORWAY  AND   PREPAREDNESS. 

Christiania,  Norway — General  Lowzow,  a  former  minister  of 
defense,  in  a  lecture  given  upon  the  defense  of  Norway,  said: 
We  are  a  small  nation  who  have  nothing  to  win  by  a  war.  The 
powers  are  doing  what  they  can  to  draw  more  countries  into  the 
war,  each  on  their  own  side,  or,  if  they  find  it  advantageous,  to 
force  the  smaller  states  into  the  war  on  the  side  of  the  opponent. 
The  neutral  states  have  already  felt  the  inconveniences  of  the 
war,  though  what  we  have  hitherto  seen  is  a  trifle.  When  the 
big  battle  fleets  commence  their  fight  in  the  North  sea,  and  not 
till  then,  will  the  danger  be  great  for  our  country.  Then  we  may 
be  obliged  to  take  sides. 

After  the  first  days  of  the  crisis  had  passed,  the  people  took  it 
for  granted  that  Norway  would  not  intervene.  The  danger  of 
war  is  just  as  great  as  before,  and  it  depends  on  our  preparing 
with  might  and  man  for  all  eventualities.  Everything  must  now 
be  done  in  order  to  improve  our  defense  in  the  best  possible  way. 
(Christian  Science  Monitor). 


Constitutional  Government  333 


OTHER  CONSTITUTIONS. 

The  University  of  Chicago  press  has  published  two  large  vol- 
umes entitled  "Modern  Constitutions,"  by  Walter  Fairleigh  Dodd, 
which  contain  the  full  text  of  the  Canadian,  Mexican,  Central 
and  South  American  constitutions  and  most  of  the  modern  con- 
stitutions of  Europe,  except  Portugal,  and  including  that  of  Ger- 
many, Austria-Hungary,  Switzerland,  Japan,  and  Russia.  It  does 
not  include  the  constitutions  of  Prussia,  China,  the  Ottoman  Em- 
pire, or  the  revised  constitution  of  Norway,  which  are  published 
in  this  work. 

I  would  recommend  the  study  of  Professor  Dodd's  valuable  col- 
lection, with  very  comprehensive  historical  and  bibliographical 
notes.  I  also  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  work  of  Prof.  A.  Law- 
rence Lowell,  president  of  Harvard  University,  entitled  "Govern- 
ments and  Parties  in  Continental  Europe,"  in  two  volumes,  and 
also  his  work  on  the  English  Government. 

Frederick  Austin  Ogg,  Ph.  D.,  has  published  a  work  entitled 
"The  Governments  of  Europe,"  Macmillan  Company,  New  York, 
1913.  This  gives  a  thorough  account  of  many  constitutions  of 
European  nations  with  extensive  notes. 

The  constitution  of  Prussia  which  I  have  included  in  this  work, 
is  taken  from  a  supplement  to  the  Annals  of  the  American  Acad- 
emy of  Political  and  Social  Science,  vol.  5,  Number  2,  Sept.,  1894, 
translated  by  James  Harvey  Robinson,  Ph.  D.,  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania, a  copy  of  which  was  sent  me  by  the  author.  This  sup- 
plement comprises  also  a  sketch  of  the  origin  and  nature  of  the 
Prussian  constitution,  with  copious  notes  to  the  text. 

CHINA. 

The  latest  constitutional  government  claiming  recognition  among 
the  nations  of  the  world  is  China,  one  of  the  oldest  nations  known 
to  history,  extending  over  an  immense  territory  in  Asia,  with  a 
population  of  some  three  hundred  and  fifty  millions. 

The  following  revised  provisional  constitution,  which  appears 
to  me  to  be  partly  copied  from  the  Japanese  constitution,  is  en- 
tirely unsatisfactory,  crude,  and  inadequate  for  practical  appli- 
cation to  China  or  any  other  country.  It  is  not  really  republican 
in  its  structure.     The  best  known  constitution  suitable  to  China 


334  Constitutional  Government 


is  that  of  Switzerland,  with  its  federal  council  composed  of  seven 
carefully  selected  and  competent  men  chosen  by  the  advisory  coun- 
cil for  three  years  to  act  as  counselors  and  direct  the  affairs  of 
the  executive  department  of  the  nation,  with  the  co-operation  of 
the  president,  also  elected  by  the  advisory  council  which  is  elected 
by  the  people.  The  president  is  elected  for  only  one  year  and 
cannot  succeed  himself. 

Each  of  these  counselors  will  have  charge  of  one  of  the  depart- 
ments of  state.  This  method  has  worked  well  in  Switzerland  and 
the  members  of  the  federal  council  would  give  stability  to  the 
government  and  be  more  apt  to  gain  the  confidence  of  the  people 
than  one  man  given  a  large  amount  of  power  and  occupying  the 
position  of  a  prince-president  like  Napoleon  the  Third. 

The  present  constitution  of  China  was  mostly  revised,  dictated 
by  Yuan  Shi  Kai,  the  late  president,  who  has  been  succeeded  by 
Li  Yuan  Hung,  the  former  vice-president.  Yuan  Shi  Kai  was 
scheming  to  imitate  Napoleon  and  restore  the  monarchical  form 
of  government  in  China.  It  is  probable  that  a  new  constitution 
will  now  be  drawn  up  and  promulgated  suited  to  the  requirements 
of  China. 


china's  declaration  op  independence. 
(Address  of  the  Republic  Issued  to  the  World  Yesterday.) 

"On  this  eighth  day  of  the  fourth  month  in  the  second  year 
of  the  republic  of  China,  the  date  fixed  for  the  first  opening  of 
our  permanent  national  assembly,  the  members  of  the  senate  and 
the  house  of  representatives,  having  met  in  these  halls  to  celebrate 
the  event,  now  make  this  declaration  of  their  sentiments. 

"The  will  of  Heaven  is  manifested  through  the  will  of  the  peo- 
ple. That  the  hundreds  of  millions  of  the  people  possess  the  au- 
thority of  the  state  is  not  proclaimed  now  for  the  first  time.  The 
monarchy,  so  long  corrupt,  proved  unworthy  of  the  grave  respon- 
sibilities intrusted  to  it  by  the  will  of  the  people,  but  with  the 
introduction  of  popular  government  the  representatives  of  the 
people  must  share  the  likes  and  dislikes  of  the  people.  They  are 
to  give  expression  to  the  desires  and  voice  the  will  of  the  people; 
they  hold  the  reins  in  behalf  of  the  nation  to  govern  with  sever- 
ity or  leniency,  with  parsimony  or  extravagance;  they  become  the 
pivot  upon  which  the  prosperity  of  the  state  is  made  to  turn.  For 
the  success  or  failure,  safety  or  danger,  adversity  or  good  fortune, 
theirs  is  the  merit  or  the  blame. 

'•'Can  we  be  otherwise  than  anxious?  Yet  through  great  tribu- 
lation the  spring  comes  to  prosperity,  and  our  bad  management 


Constitutional  Government  335 


and  anxieties  are  a  means  to  happiness.  Now,  therefore,  we  unite 
to  form  this  assembly  and  presume  to  publish  our  aspirations. 
May  ours  be  a  just  government.  May  our  five  races  lay  aside  their 
prejudices.  May  rain  and  sunshine  bring  bounteous  harvest  and 
cause  the  husbandman  to  rejoice.  May  the  scholar  be  happy  in 
his  home  and  the  merchant  conduct  his  trade  in  peace.  May  no 
duty  of  government  be  unfulfilled  and  no  hidden  wound  go  un- 
redressed. Thus  may  the  glory  be  spread  abroad  and  these  our 
words  be  echoed  far  and  wide,  that  those  in  distant  lands  who 
hear  may  rejoice,  our  neighbors  on  every  side  give  us  praise,  and 
may  the  new  life  of  the  old  nation  be  lasting  and  unending.  Who 
of  us  can  dare  to  be  neglectful  of  his  duties !" 


CHAPTER    II.       THE    PRESIDENT. 

Art.  14.  The  President  is  the  Head  of  the  nation,  and  con- 
trols the  power  of  the  entire  administration. 

Art.  15.     The  President  represents  the  Chung  Hua  Min  Kuo. 

Art.  17.  The  President  convokes  the  Li  Fa  Yuan,  declares 
the  opening,  the  suspension  and  the  closing  of  the  sessions. 

Art.  19.  For  the  purposes  of  improving  the  public  welfare  or 
enforcing  law  or  in  accordance  with  the  duties  imposed  upon  him 
by  law,  the  President  may  issue  orders  and  cause  orders  to  be 
issued,  but  he  shall  not  alter  the  law  by  his  order. 

Art.  20.  In  order  to  maintain  public  peace  or  to  prevent  ex- 
traordinary calamities  at  a  time  of  great  emergency  when  time 
will  not  permit  the  convocation  of  the  Li  Fa  Yuan,  the  President 
may,  with  the  approval  of  the  Tsan  Cheng  Yuan,  issue  provisional 
orders  which  shall  have  the  force  of  law;  but  in  that  case  he  shall 
ask  the  Li  Fa  Yuan  for  indemnification  at  its  next  session. 

Art.  21.  The  President  shall  fix  the  official  systems  and  official 
regulations.  The  President  shall  appoint  and  dismiss  military 
and  civil  officials. 

Art.  22.     The  President  shall  declare  war  and  conclude  peace. 

Art.  23.  The  President  is  the  Commander  in  Chief  of,  and 
controls,  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  whole  country.  The  President 
shall  decide  the  system  of  organization  and  the  respective  strength 
of  the  Army  and  Navy. 

Art.  27.  The  President  may  confer  titles  of  nobility,  decora- 
tions, and  other  insignia  of  honour: 

Art.  28.  The  President  may  declare  general  amnesty,  special 
pardon,  commutation  of  punishment,  or  restoration  of  rights.  In 
case  of  general  amnesty  the  approval  of  the  Li  Fa  Yuan  must  be 
secured. 


336  Constitutional  Government 


chapter  vi.    the;  judiciary. 

Art.  44.  The  judicial  power  shall  be  administered  by  the 
Judiciary  formed  by  the  judicial  officials  appointed  by  the  Pres- 
ident. 

The  organization  of  the  Judiciary  and  the  qualifications  of  the 
judicial  officials  shall  be  fixed  by  law. 

Art.  47.  The  trial  of  law  suits  in  the  judicial  courts  should  be 
open  to  the  public;  but  when  they  are  deemed  to  be  harmful  to 
peace  and  order  or  good  custom,  they  may  be  held  in  camera. 

CHAPTER  VIII.     FINANCES. 

Art.  50.  Levying  of  new  taxes  and  dues  and  change  of  tariff 
shall  be  decided  by  law. 

The  taxes  and  dues  which  are  now  in  existence  shall  continue 
to  be  collected  as  of  old  except  as  changed  by  law. 

Art.  53.  To  prepare  for  any  deficiency  of  the  budget  and 
expenses  needed  outside  of  the  estimates  in  the  budget,  a  special 
reserve  fund  must  be  provided  in  the  budget. 

Art.  56.  When  a  new  Budget  cannot  be  established,  the 
Budget  of  the  previous  year  will  be  used.  The  same  procedure 
will  be  adopted  when  the  Budget  fails  to  pass  at  the  time  when 
the  fiscal  year  has  begun. 

Art.  57.  When  the  closed  accounts  of  the  receipts  and  ex- 
penditures of  the  nation  have  been  audited  by  the  House  of  Audit, 
they  shall  be  submitted  by  the  President  to  the  Li  Fa  Yuan  for 
approval. 

Art.  58.  The  organization  of  the  House  of  Audit  shall  be 
fixed  by  the  Provisional  Constitution  Conference. 

Art.  66.  This  Provisional  Constitution  may  be  amended  at 
the  request  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  the  Li  Fa  Yuan,  or 
the  proposal  of  the  President,  by  a  three-fourths  majority  of  a 
quorum  consisting  of  four-fifths  or  more  of  the  whole  member- 
ship of  the  House.  The  Provisional  Constitution  Conference  will 
then  be  convoked  by  the  President  to  undertake  the  amendment. 


JAPAN. 

"Beginning  in  1880  a  vigorous  political  propaganda  was  con- 
ducted in  favor  of  the  establishment  of  a  representative  assembly ; 
an  imperial  edict  of  October  12,  1881,  announced  that  the  first 
Imperial  Diet  would  be  convened  in  1890.  Between  1881  and 
1889  important  reforms  were  made  in  the  organization  of  the 


Constitutional  Government  337 


government.  The  constitution  was  promulgated  on  February  II, 
1889,  and  at  the  same  time  were  issued  the  Imperial  House  Law, 
the  ordinance  concerning  the  House  of  Peers,  the  Law  of  Houses, 
the  election  law  for  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
and  the  law  of  finance.  The  first  Diet  was  formally  opened  on 
November  29,  1890." 


EXTRACTS   FROM    THE   CONSTITUTION   OF"    JAPAN. 

(February  11,  1889). 

"This  text  has  been  adopted  almost  without  change  from  the 
English  translation  issued  from  Tokyo  1889;  the  difficulty  of  ob- 
taining revision  makes  it  necessary  to  give  this  constiution  in  the 
untechnical  language  in  which  it  appears." — Walter  FairlEigh 
Dodd. 

Chapter  I. 

THE  Emperor. 

Article  1.  The  Empire  of  Japan  shall  be  reigned  over  and 
governed  by  a  line  of  emperors  unbroken  for  ages  eternal. 

Chapter  II. 

RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES   OP   SUBJECTS. 

Art.  18.  The  conditions  necessary  for  being  a  Japanese  sub- 
ject shall  be  determined  by  law. 

Art.  19.  Japanese  subjects  may,  according  to  qualifications 
determined  in  laws  or  ordinances,  be  appointed  to  civil  or  military 
offices  equally,  and  may  fill  any  other  public  offices. 

Chapter  III. 

THE  IMPERIAL  DIET. 

Art.  33.  The  Imperial  Diet  shall  consist  of  two  houses,  a 
House  of  Peers  and  a  House  of  Representatives. 

Art.  34.  The  House  of  Peers  shall,  in  accordance  with  the 
ordinance  concerning  the  House  of  Peers,  be  composed  of  the 


338  Constitutional  Government 


members  of  the  imperial  family  of  the  order  of  nobility,  and  of 
those  persons  who  have  been  nominated  thereto  by  the  emperor. 

Art.  35.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  be  composed  of 
members  elected  by  the  people  according  to  the  provisions  of  the 
election  law. 

Art.  36.  No  one  shall  at  one  and  the  same  time  be  a  member 
of  both  houses. 


Chapter  IV. 

MINISTERS  OF  STATE  AND  THE  PRIVY  COUNCIL. 

Art.  55.  The  respective  ministers  of  state  shall  give  their  ad- 
vice to  the  emperor  and  be  responsible  for  it. 

All  laws,  imperial  ordinances  and  imperial  rescripts  of  what- 
ever kind,  that  relate  to  the  affairs  of  state  require  the  counter 
signature  of  the  minister  of  state. 

Art.  56.  The  Privy  Council  shall,  in  accordance  with  the  pro- 
visions of  the  organization  of  the  Privy  Council,  deliberate  upon 
important  matters  of  state  when  they  have  been  consulted  by  the 
emperor. 


Chapter  V. 

THE  JUDICIAL  POWER. 

Art.  57.     The  judicial  power  shall  be  exercised  by  the  courts 
of  law  according  to  law,  in  the  name  of  the  emperor. 

IMPERIAL    ORDINANCE    CONCERNING   THE    HOUSE    OP    PEERS. 

Article  1.     The  House  of  Peers  shall  be  composed  of  the  fol- 
lowing members : 

1.  The  members  of  the  Imperial  family; 

2.  Princes  and  Marquises,  etc.; 

3.  Counts,  viscounts,  barons  who  have  been  elected  thereto  by 
the  members  of  their  respective  orders; 

4.  Persons  who  have  been  specially  nominated  by  the  emperor 
on  account  meritorious  services  to  the  state  or  of  erudition ; 

5.  Persons  who  have  been  elected,  one  member  each  Fu  (city) 
and  Ken  (prefecture),  by  and  from  among  tax  payers  of 
the  highest  amount  of  direct  taxes  on  land,  industry,  or 
trade  therein,  and  who  have  afterwards  been  appointed 
thereto  by  the  emperor. 


Constitutional  Government  339 


GERMAN  GOVERNMENT. 

The  construction  of  the  North  German  Bund,  and  the  sub- 
sequent German  Empire  in  its  present  shape,  was  the  work  of 
Bismarck  more  than  any  other  man.  Like  the  architect  of  a  great, 
complicated  edifice,  he  planned  and  directed  how  the  empire  should 
be  built  from  foundation  to  dome. 

By  uniting  the  North  German  States,  the  first  step  was  taken 
to  place  Prussia  in  control.  Then,  after  the  Franco-Prussian  war, 
the  formation  of  the  German  Empire,  containing  in  all  twenty- 
five  states,  completed  the  scheme  of  German  unity. 

By  the  selection  of  the  King  of  Prussia,  which  state  comprised 
three-fifths  of  the  entire  twenty-five  states,  as  president,  with  the 
title  of  "the  German  Emperor,"  and  the  giving  to  him  of  the  right 
to  select  the  chancellor,  one  man  won  a  degree  of  arbitrary  power 
now  almost  impossible  to  control. 

Reichstag  Is  Limited. 

The  legislative  body  elected  by  the  qualified  voters  of  the  entire 
nation  is  the  reichstag,  but  this  body  is  so  hedged  about  with 
restrictions  that  it  has  very  little  real  authority.  It  can  be  dis- 
solved by  the  bundesrath.  Its  members  receive  no  pay,  which 
restricts  them  to  those  who  are  rich  enough  to  pay  their  own 
expenses  while  in  Berlin. 

Bismarck  had  very  little  use  for  universal  suffrage,  and  saw 
that  elections  were  held  on  working  days  instead  of  Sundays,  as 
in  France.    This  kept  the  poorer  people  from  voting. 

The  bundesrath  is  formed  of  members  who  are  not  elected  by 
the  people,  but  are  delegates  chosen  by  the  different  states  or 
monarchies,  controlled  by  the  princes,  dukes  or  owners  of  large 
estates,  and  form  an  imperial  cabinet.  This  rule,  however,  does 
not  apply  to  the  three  free  cities,  which  elect  their  own  delegates. 

Prussia  has  twenty  votes  in  the  bundesrath,  and  three-fifths 
of  the  votes  in  the  reichstag,  and  the  King  of  Prussia  controls 
these  votes  thru  his  autocratic  power  under  the  Prussian  constitu- 
tion. He  also  has  supreme  command  of  the  army,  and  the  con- 
tingents or  troops  of  all  the  states  are  turned  over  to  him. 

Monarchies  in  Majority. 

The  Empire  of  Germany  -is  composed  of  twenty-five  states. 
All  of  these,  except  the  three  free  cities,  are  monarchies.  "The 
ministers  are  nowhere  responsible,"  says  A.  Lawrence  Lowell,  "to 


340  Constitutional  Government 


the  legislative  body  in  the  parliamentary  sense,  and  hence  the 
princes  exercise,  personally,  a  great  deal  of  power.  Thruout 
Germany,  therefore,  the  monarchical  principle  retains  its  vigor, 
and  while  the  representatives  of  the  people  have  obtained  a  share 
in  the  direction  of  public  affairs,  in  no  state  have  they  drawn  the 
whole  conduct  of  the  government  into  their  own  hands." 

Mecklenburg-Schwerin  and  Mecklenburg-Strelitz  are  little 
archaic  monarchies  that  do  not  have  even  one  representative  body 
chosen  by  the  people,  but  the  legislative  branch  is  controlled  di- 
rectly by  the  grand  dukes  thru  the  landtag  and  langschaft. 

The  government  of  the  House  cities  is  placed  in  the  senate 
and  the  biirgerschaft.  The  executive  power  is  vested  in  the  senate, 
which  consists  in  Hamburg  of  eighteen  members  chosen  for  life 
and  paid.  The  senators  are  elected  by  the  senate  and  the  biirger- 
schaft, but  members  anf  the  biirgerschaft  are  elected  by  direct 
popular  vote  and  secret  ballot.  The  House  cities  each  send  one 
representative  to  the  bundesrath.  There  is  no  grand  duke  or 
prince  to  rule  over  either  of  the  three  cities. 

English  System  Better. 

The  difference  between  the  German  Empire  and  the  English 
government  is  that  the  former  concentrates  all  real  power  in  the 
hands  of  the  emperor,  who  is  also  King  of  Prussia,  the  control- 
ling state  of  the  confederation  and  in  the  bundesrath,  or  herren 
house,  composed  of  the  sovereigns  or  their  representatives  in  the 
several  monarchical  states  composing  the  empire,  and,  as  stated, 
delegates  from  the  three  free  cities. 

In  England,  however,  the  real  power  is  in  the  house  of  com- 
mons, which  is  elected  by  the  people  thru  universal  suffrage,  and 
the  ministry  is  accountable  to  the  house  of  commons  and  not  to 
the  king. 

A  change  is  necessary  in  the  structure  of  the  German  nation 
as  an  entirety.  The  present  organization  is  based  on  a  monarch- 
ical system  which  is  not  adapted  to  the  present  advanced  state 
of  society  in  Germany  and  the  competency  of  the  German  people. 

Either  the  English  constitutional  method  should  be  substituted, 
where  the  lower  house  should  control  and  be  elected  by  universal 
unrestricted  suffrage,  the  chancellor  being  selected  as  in  England 
and  accountable  to  the  reichstag  and  not  to  the  emperor,  or  the 
Swiss  constitution  should  be  followed  and  each  state  elect  del- 
egates by  universal  unrestricted  suffrage  to  the  two  houses,  whose 
members  should  jointly  choose  the  members  of  the  federal  coun- 
cil. This  would  do  away  with  the  entire  monarchical  system. 
Prussia  should  be  divided  into  a  number  of  states,  so  as  not  to 
have  a  preponderance  of  power  in  one  state. 


Constitutional  Government  341 

THE  CONSTITUTION   OF  PRUSSIA 

OF  THE  THIRTY-FIRST  OF  JANUARY,  1850. 

From  copy  furnished  by  James  Harvey  Robinson,  Ph.  D. 

We,  Frederick  William,  by  grace  of  God,  King  of  Prussia,  etc., 
hereby  declare  and  make  known  that,  whereas  the  constitution 
of  the  Prussian  State,  promulgated  by  us  on  the  fifth  of  Decem- 
ber, 1848,  subject  to  revision  by  the  ordinary  process  of  legisla- 
tion, and  accepted  by  both  chambers  of  our  kingdom,  has  been 
submitted  to  the  prescribed  revision,  we  have  finally  established 
the  provisions  of  that  constitution  in  agreement  with  both 
chambers. 

We,  therefore,  promulgate  the  same  as  a  fundamental  law  of 
the  state,  as  follows : 

Titus  I. 

THE   TERRITORY   OF   THE   STATE. 

Article  1.  All  parts  of  the  monarchy  in  its  present  extent 
form  the  territory  of  the  Prussian  State. 

Art.  2.  The  boundaries  of  this  territory  can  only  be  altered 
by  law. 

Title  II. 

THE  RIGHTS  OF  PRUSSIANS. 

Art.  3.  The  constitution  and  the  law  determine  under  what 
conditions  the  quality  and  rights  of  a  Prussian  citizen  may  be 
acquired,  exercised  or  forfeited. 

Art.  4.  All  Prussians  shall  be  equal  before  the  law.  Class 
privileges  shall  not  be  permitted.  Public  offices,  subject  to  the 
conditions  imposed  by  law,  shall  be  uniformly  open  to  all  who 
are  competent  to  hold  them. 

Art.  5.  Personal  freedom  is  guaranteed.  The  forms  and 
conditions  under  which  any  limitation  thereof,  especially  arrest, 
shall  be  permissible,  shall  be  determined  by  law. 

Art.  6.  The  domicile  shall  be  inviolable.  Intrusion  and 
search  therein,  as  well  as  the  seizing  of  letters  and  papers,  shall 
be  allowed  only  in  the  manner  and  in  the  cases  prescribed  by  law. 


342  Constitutional  Government 


Art.  7.  No  one  shall  be  deprived  of  his  lawful  judge.  Ex- 
ceptional tribunals  and  extraordinary  commissions  shall  not  be 
permitted. 

Art.  8.  Punishments  shall  not  be  prescribed  or  inflicted  ex- 
cept according  to  law. 

Art.  9.  Property  is  inviolable.  It  shall  only  be  taken  or  in- 
terfered with  from  considerations  of  public  weal,  and  then  only 
in  a  manner  to  be  prescribed  by  law,  and  in  return  for  a  com- 
pensation to  be  previously  determined.  Even  in  urgent  cases  a 
preliminary  valuation  and  compensation  shall  be  made. 

Art.  10.  Civil  death  and  confiscation  of  property,  as  punish- 
ment, shall  not  be  permitted. 

Art.  11.  Freedom  of  emigration  can  only  be  limited  by  the 
state,  with  view  to  military  service.  Migration  fees  shall  not  be 
levied. 

Art.  12.  Freedom  of  religious  confession,  of  association  in 
religious  societies  (Art.  30  and  31),  and  of  the  common  exercise 
of  religion  in  private  and  public,  is  guaranteed.  The  enjoyment 
of  civil  and  political  rights  shall  not  be  dependent  upon  religious 
belief.  But  the  exercise  of  religious  liberty  shall  not  be  permitted 
to  interfere  with  the  civil  or  political  duties  of  the  citizen. 

Art.  13.  Religious  and  ecclesiastical  associations,  which  have 
no  corporate  rights,  can  only  acquire  those  rights  by  special  laws. 

Art.  14.  The  Christian  religion  shall  be  taken  as  the  basis  of 
those  state  institutions  which  are  connected  with  the  exercise  of 
religion  without  prejudice  to  the  religious  liberty  guaranteed  by 
Article  12. 

Art.  15,  16  and  18.     [Repealed  June  18,  1875.] 

Art.  17.  A  special  law  shall  be  enacted  relating  to  church 
patronage  and  to  the  conditions  on  which  it  may  be  abolished. 

Art.  19.  Civil  marriage  shall  be  introduced  in  accordance 
with  a  special  law  which  shall  also  regulate  the  keeping  of  a  civil 
register. 

Art.  20.     Science  and  its  teachings  shall  be  free. 

Art.  21.  The  education  of  youth  shall  be  adequately  provided 
for  by  public  schools.  Parents  and  their  representatives  shall 
not  leave  their  children  or  wards  without  that  education  pre- 
scribed in  the  public  elementary  schools  (Volksschulen). 

Art.  22.  Every  one  shall  be  at  liberty  to  give  instruction,  and 
establish  institutions  of  learning,  provided  he  shall  have  given 
proof,  to  the  proper  state  authorities,  of  his  moral,  scientific  and 
technical  fitness. 

Art.  23.  All  public  and  private  educational  institutions  shall 
be  under  the  supervision  of  authorities  appointed  by  the  state. 
Teachers  in  the  public  schools  shall  have  the  rights  and  duties 
of  public  officials. 


Constitutional  Government  343 


Art.  24.  In  the  establishment  of  public  elementary  schools, 
confessional  differences  shall  be  considered  as  far  as  possible. 

Religious  instruction  in  the  elementary  schools  shall  be  super- 
intended by  the  religious  organizations  concerned. 

The  charge  of  the  external  affairs  of  the  elementary  schools 
shall  belong  to  the  community  (Gemeinde).  With  the  statutory 
co-operation  of  the  community  in  the  manner  and  to  the  extent 
determined  by  law,  the  State  shall  appoint  the  teachers  in  the 
public  elementary  schools  from  the  number  of  those  qualified. 

Art.  25.  The  means  for  establishing,  maintaining  and  en- 
larging the  public  elementary  schools  shall  be  provided  by  the 
communities,  which  shall,  however,  be  assisted  by  the  State  in 
proven  cases  of  pecuniary  inability  on  the  part  of  the  community. 
The  obligations  of  third  parties,  based  on  special  legal  titles,  shall 
not  be  impaired. 

The  State  shall  accordingly  guarantee  to  teachers  in  the  ele- 
mentary schools  a  steady  income  suitable  to  local  circumstances. 

In  public  elementary  schools  education  shall  be  imparted  free 
of  charge. 

Art.  26.     A  special  law  shall  regulate  all  matters  of  education. 

Art.  27.  Every  Prussian  shall  be  entitled  to  express  his  opin- 
ion freely  by  word,  writing,  print,  or  pictorial  representation. 

Censorship  of  the  press  may  not  be  introduced;  and  no  other 
restriction  on  the  freedom  of  the  press  shall  be  imposed  except 
by  law. 

Art.  28.  Offenses  committed  by  word,  writing,  print,  or  pic- 
torial representation  shall  be  punished  in  accordance  with  the 
general  penal  code. 

Art.  29.  All  Prussians  shall  be .  entitled  to  meet  in  closed 
rooms,  peacefully  and  unarmed,  without  previous  permission 
from  the  authorities. 

But  this  provision  does  not  apply  to  open-air  meetings,  which 
shall  be  subject  to  whatever  restrictions  the  law  may  prescribe 
even  with  respect  to  previous  permission  from  the  authorities. 

Art.  30.  All  Prussians  shall  have  the  right  to  form  associa- 
tions for  such  purposes  as  do  not  contravene  the  penal  laws. 

The  law  shall  regulate  with  special  regard  to  insuring  the  public 
security,  the  exercise  of  the  right  guaranteed  by  this  and  the 
preceding  article  (29). 

Political  associations  may  be  subjected  by  law  to  restrictions 
and  temporary  prohibitions. 

Art.  31.  The  law  shall  determine  the  conditions  on  which 
corporate  rights  may  be  granted  or  refused. 

Art.  32.  The  right  of  petition  shall  belong  to  all  Prussians. 
Petitions  under  a  collective  name  shall  be  permitted  only  to 
public  authorities  and  corporations. 


344  Constitutional  Government 


Art.  33.  The  privacy  of  the  mails  shall  be  inviolable.  The 
necessary  restrictions  of  this  right,  in  cases  of  war  and  of  crim- 
inal investigation,  shall  be  determined  by  law. 

Art.  34.  All  Prussians  are  bound  to  military  service.  The 
extent  and  character  of  this  duty  shall  be  determined  by  law. 

Art.  35.  The  army  shall  include  all  divisions  of  the  standing 
army  and  the  militia  (Landwehr) .  In  the  event  of  war,  the  king 
can  call  out  the  reserve  militia  (Landsturm)  in  accordance  with 
the  law. 

Art.  36.  The  military  power  can  only  be  employed  for  the 
suppression  of  internal  troubles,  and  the  execution  of  the  laws, 
in  the  cases  and  manner  specified  by  statute,  and  on  the  requisi- 
tion of  the  civil  authorities.  In  the  latter  respect  exceptions  may 
be  made  by  law. 

Art.  37.  The  court-martial  of  the  army  shall  be  restricted  to 
penal  matters,  and  shall  be  regulated  by  law.  Provisions  with 
regard  to  military  discipline  shall  remain  the  subject  of  special 
ordinances. 

Art.  38.  The  military  forces  shall  not  deliberate  whether  in 
active  service  or  not;  nor  shall  they  otherwise  assemble  than 
when  commanded  to  do  so.  Thus  assemblies  and  meetings  of  the 
militia  (Landwehr)  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  military  ar- 
rangements, commands  and  ordinances,  are  forbidden,  even  when 
they  are  not  in  active  service. 

Art.  39.  The  provisions  of  Arts.  5,  6,  29,  30  and  32  shall 
apply  to  the  army  only  in  so  far  as  they  do  not  conflict  with 
military  laws  and  rules  of  discipline. 

Art.  40.     [As  amended  by  the  law  of  June  5,  1852.] 

Art.  2.     The  establishment  of  feudal  tenures  is  forbidden. 

The  feudal  bond  (Lehnsverband)  still  existing  with  respect  to 
surviving  fiefs  shall  be  dissolved  by  law. 

Art.  41.     [As  amended  by  the  law  of  June  5,  1852.] 

Art.  3.  The  provisions  of  Art.  2  do  not  apply  to  crown  fiefs 
or  to  fiefs  situated  in  other  countries. 

Art.  42.     [As  amended  April  14,  1856.] 

In  accordance  with  special  laws  already  passed  the  following 
are  abolished  without  compensation: 

1.  The  right  to  exercise  or  delegate  judicial  power,  connected 
with  the  possession  of  certain  lands,  together  with  the  fees  and 
exemptions  accruing  from  this  right. 

2.  The  obligations  arising  from  manorial  or  patriarchial  juris- 
diction, from  serfage,  and  from  former  tax  and  industrial  organ- 
ization.    (Steuer-  und  Gewerbe-Verfassung.) 

With  these  rights  are  also  abolished  the  counter-services  and 
burdens  devolving  upon  those  enjoying  these  rights. 


Constitutional  Government  345 


Title  III. 

THE   KING. 

Art.  43.     The  person  of  the  king  shall  be  inviolable. 

Art.  44.  The  king's  ministers  shall  be  responsible.  All  of- 
ficial acts  of  the  king  shall  require  for  their  validity  the  counter- 
signature of  a  minister,  who  shall  thereby  assume  responsibility 
for  them. 

Art.  45.  The  executive  power  shall  belong  to  the  king  alone. 
He  shall  appoint  and  dismiss  the  ministers.  He  shall  order  the 
promulgation  of  the  laws  and  issue  the  necessary  ordinances  for 
their  execution. 

Art.  46.     The  king  shall  be  commander-in-chief  of  the  army. 

Art.  47.  The  king  shall  fill  all  posts  in  the  army,  as  well  as 
in  other  branches  of  the  public  service,  in  so  far  as  it  is  not  other- 
wise ordained  by  law. 

Art.  48.  The  king  shall  have  power  to  declare  war  and  make 
peace,  and  to  conclude  other  treaties  with  foreign  governments. 
The  latter  require  for  their  validity  the  assent  of  the  chambers  in 
so  far  as  they  are  commercial  treaties,  or  impose  burdens  on  the 
State,  or  obligations  on  the  individual  subjects. 

Art.  49.  The  king  shall  have  power  to  pardon,  and  to  mitigate 
punishment. 

But  in  favor  of  a  minister  condemned  for  his  official  acts,  this 
right  can  only  be  exercised  on  the  motion  of  that  chamber  whence 
his  impeachment  emanated. 

Only  in  virtue  of  a  special  law  can  the  king  suppress  inquiries 
already  instituted. 

Art.  50.  The  king  may  confer  orders  and  other  distinctions, 
so  far  as  they  do  not  carry  privileges  with  them. 

He  shall  exercise  the  right  of  coinage  in  accordance  with  the 
law. 

Art.  51.  The  king  shall  convoke  the  chambers,  and  close  their 
sessions.  He  may  dissolve  the  two  chambers  together  or  either 
one.  In  such  a  case,  however,  the  electors  shall  be  assembled 
within  a  period  of  sixty  days,  and  the  chambers  summoned 
within  a  period  of  ninety  days  respectively  after  the  dissolution. 

Art.  52.  The  king  shall  have  power  to  adjourn  the  chambers. 
But  without  their  assent  this  adjournment  may  not  exceed  the 
space  of  thirty  days,  nor  be  repeated  during  the  same  session. 

Art.  53.  The  crown  is,  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  the 
royal  family,  hereditary  in  the  male  line  of  that  house  following 
the  law  of  primogeniture  and  agnatic  succession. 

Art.  54.  The  king  shall  attain  his  majority  on  completing  his 
eighteenth  year. 


346  Constitutional  Government 


In  presence  of  the  united  chambers  he  shall  take  the  oath  to 
observe  the  constitution  of  the  monarchy  steadfastly  and  in- 
violably, and  to  rule  in  accordance  with  it  and  the  laws. 

Art.  55.  Without  the  consent  of  both  chambers  the  king  can- 
not also  be  ruler  of  foreign  realms. 

Art.  56.  If  the  king  is  a  minor,  or  is  otherwise  permanently 
prevented  from  ruling  himself,  the  regency  shall  be  undertaken 
by  that  agnate  (Art.  53),  who  has  attained  his  majority  and 
stands  next  in  succession  to  the  crown.  He  shall  immediately 
convoke  the  chambers,  which,  in  united  session,  shall  decide  as 
to  the  necessity  of  the  regency. 

Art.  57.  If  there  be  no  agnate  of  age,  and  if  no  legal  pro- 
vision has  previously  been  made  for  such  a  contingency,  the 
Ministry  of  State  shall  convoke  the  chambers,  which  shall  then 
elect  a  regent  in  joint  session.  And  until  the  assumption  of  the 
regency  by  him,  the  Ministry  of  State  shall  conduct  the  govern- 
ment. 

Art.  58.  The  regent  shall  exercise  the  powers  vested  in  the 
king  in  the  name  of  the  latter.  After  the  establishment  of  the 
regency,  he  shall  take  the  oath  before  the  chambers  in  joint  ses- 
sion to  observe  the  constitution  of  the  monarchy  steadfastly  and 
inviolably,  and  to  rule  in  accordance  with  it  and  the  laws. 

Until  this  oath  is  taken,  the  whole  Ministry  of  State  for  the 
time  being  shall  remain  responsible  for  all  acts  of  the  govern- 
ment. 

Art.  59.  The  annuity  drawn  from  the  income  of  the  forests 
and  domains  and  set  apart  by  the  law  of  January  17,  1820,  shall 
remain  attached  to  the  entailed  fund  of  the  crown. 


Tn%E  IV. 

THE  MINISTERS. 

Art.  60.  The  ministers,,  as  well  as  the  State  officials  appointed 
to  represent  them,  shall  have  access  to  each  chamber,  and  must 
at  all  times  be  heard  upon  their  own  request. 

Each  chamber  can  demand  the  presence  of  the  ministers. 

The  ministers  shall  be  entitled  to  vote  in  one  or  other  of  the 
chambers  only  when  members  of  it. 

Art.  61.  On  the  resolution  of  one  chamber  the  ministers  may 
be  impeached  for  the  crime  of  violating  the  constitution,  for 
bribery  and  for  treason.  The  decision  of  such  cases  shall  lie 
with  the  supreme  tribunal  of  the  monarchy  sitting  as  one  body. 
As  long  as  two  Supreme  Courts  exist,  they  shall  be  united  for 
the  above  purpose. 


Constitutional  Government  347 


Further  details  as  to  matters  of  responsibility,  procedure  and 
punishment,  are  hereby  reserved  for  a  special  law. 


Title  V. 

THE  CHAMBERS. 

Art.  62.  The  legislative  power  shall  be  exercised  in  common 
by  the  king  and  the  two  chambers. 

Every  law  shall  require  the  assent  of  the  king  and  of  the  two 
chambers. 

Money  bills  and  the  budgets  shall  first  be  laid  before  the  sec- 
ond chamber;  the  budgets  shall  either  be  accepted  or  rejected  as 
a  whole  by  the  first  chamber. 

Art.  63.  In  the  event  only  of  its  being  urgently  necessary  to 
maintain  public  security,  or  deal  with  an  unusual  state  of  distress 
when  the  chambers  are  not  in  session,  ordinances,  which  do  not 
contravene  the  constitution,  may  be  issued  with  the  force  of  the 
law,  on  the  responsibility  of  the  whole  ministry.  But  these  must 
be  immediately  laid  before  the  chambers  for  approval  at  their 
next  meeting.  I 

Art.  64.  The  king,  as  well  as  each  chamber,  shall  have  the 
right  of  proposing  laws.  Bills  that  have  been  rejected  by  one  of 
the  chambers,  or  by  the  king,  cannot  be  re-introduced  during  the 
same  session. 

Arts.  65-69.  [As  amended  May  7,  1853.]  The  first  chamber 
shall  be  formed  by  royal  ordinance  (Anordnung)  which  can  only 
be  altered  by  a  law  to  be  issued  with  the  approval  of  the 
chambers. 

The  first  chamber  shall  be  composed  of  members  appointed 
by  the  king,  with  the  right  of  hereditary  transmission,  or  only 
for  life. 

Art.  69.  [As  amended  April  30,  185 1;  May  17,  1867,  and 
June  23,  1876.]  The  second  chamber  shall  consist  of  four  hun- 
dred and  thirty-three  members. 

The  electoral  districts  shall  be  determined  by  law.  They  shall 
consist  of  one  or  more  circles  (Kreisen) ,  or  of  one  or  more  of 
the  larger  towns. 

Art.  70.  Every  Prussian  who  has  completed  his  twenty-fifth 
year,  and  is  qualified  to  take  part  in  the  elections  of  the  commune 
where  he  is  domiciled,  is  entitled  to  act  as  a  primary  voter 
(Urzvahler). 

One  entitled  to  take  part  in  the  election  of  different  communes, 
can  only  exercise  his  right  as  primary  voter  in  one  commune. 

Art.  71.     For  every  250  souls  of  the  population,  one  elector 


348  Constitutional  Government 


(IVahlmann)  shall  be  chosen.  The  primary  voters  shall  be 
divided  into  three  classes  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  direct 
taxes  they  pay,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  that  each  class  shall 
represent  a  third  of  the  sum  total  of  the  taxes  paid  by  the  primary 
voters. 

This  sum  total  shall  be  reckoned : 

(a)  By  communes,  in  case  the  commune  forms  of  itself  a 
primary  electoral  district. 

(b)  By  districts  (Bezirke),  in  case  the  primary  electoral  dis- 
trict consists  of  several  communes. 

The  first  class  shall  consist  of  those  primary  voters,  highest  in 
the  scale  of  taxation,  who,  taken  together,  pay  a  third  of  the 
total. 

The  second  class  shall  consist  of  those  primary  voters,  next 
highest  in  the  scale,  whose  taxes  form  a  second  third  of  the  whole. 

The  third  class  shall  be  made  up  of  the  remaining  taxpayers 
(lowest  in  the  scale)  who  contribute  the  other  third  of  the  whole. 

Each  class  shall  vote  apart,  and  shall  choose  each  a  third  of 
the  electors. 

These  classes  may  be  divided  into  several  voting  sections,  none 
of  which,  however,  must  include  more  than  500  primary  voters. 

The  electors  shall  be  chosen  by  each  class  from  the  number 
of  the  primary  voters  in  their  district,  without  regard  to  the 
classes. 

Art.  72.     The  deputies  shall  be  chosen  by  the  electors. 

Further  details  relating  to  the  elections  shall  be  determined  by 
an  electoral  law,  which  shall  also  make  the  necessary  provision 
for  those  cities  where  flour  and  meat  duties  are  levied  instead 
of  direct  taxes. 

Art.  73.  [As  amended  May  22,  1888.]  The  legislative  period 
of  the  second  chamber  shall  be  five  years. 

Art.  74.  [As  amended  March  27,  1872.]  Every  Prussian  is 
eligible  as  deputy  to  the  second  chamber  who  has  completed  his 
thirtieth  year,  who  has  not  forfeited  his  civil  rights  in  consequence 
of  a  valid  judicial  sentence,  and  who  has  been  a  Prussian  subject 
for  three  years. 

The  president  and  members  of  the  supreme  chamber  of  ac- 
counts cannot  sit  in  either  house  of  the  diet  {Landtag). 

Art.  75.  After  the  lapse  of  a  legislative  period  the  chambers 
shall  be  elected  anew,  and  the  same  in  the  event  of  dissolution. 
In  both  cases  previous  members  are  re-eligible. 

Art.  76.  [As  amended  May  18,  1857.]  Both  houses  of  the 
diet  of  the  kingdom  shall  be  regularly  convened  by  the  king  in 
the  period  from  the  beginning  of  November  in  each  year  till  the 
middle  of  the  following  January,  and  otherwise  as  often  as  cir- 
cumstances may  require. 


Constitutional  Government  349 


Art.  7J .  The  chambers  shall  be  opened  and  closed  by  the  king 
in  person,  or  by  a  minister  appointed  by  him  for  this  purpose  in 
a  joint  session  of  the  chambers. 

Both  chambers  shall  be  simultaneously  convened,  opened,  ad- 
journed and  closed.  If  one  chamber  shall  be  dissolved,  the  other 
shall  be  at  the  same  time  prorogued. 

Art.  78.  Each  chamber  shall  examine  the  credentials  of  its 
members  and  decide  thereupon.  It  shall  regulate  its  own  order 
of  business,  and  discipline  by  its  rule  of  order,  and  elect  its  pres- 
ident, vice-presidents  and  secretaries. 

Members  of  the  public  service  shall  require  no  special  permit 
(Urlaub)  in  order  to  enter  the  chamber. 

If  a  member  of  the  chamber  shall  accept  a  salaried  office  of 
the  State,  or  is  promoted  in  the  service  of  the  State  to  a  post 
involving  higher  rank  or  increase  of  salary,  he  shall  lose  his  seat 
and  vote  in  the  chamber,  and  can  only  recover  his  seat  in  it  by 
re-election. 

No  one  can  be  a  member  of  both  chambers. 

Art.  79.  The  sittings  of  both  chambers  shall  be  public.  On 
the  motion  of  its  president,  or  of  ten  members,  each  chamber 
may  meet  in  private  session  at  which  the  first  motion  taken  up 
shall  be  the  question  of  continuing  the  secrecy  of  the  session. 

Art.  80.  [As  amended  May  30,  1855.]  The  chamber  of 
deputies  cannot  take  action  unless  there  is  a  majority  of  the  legal 
number  of  its  members  present.  Each  chamber  shall  take  action 
by  absolute  majority  of  votes,  subject  to  any  exceptions  that  may 
be  determined  by  the  rules  of  order  for  elections. 

The  house  of  lords  shall  not  taken  action  unless  at  least  sixty 
members  of  the  house  holding  seats  and  voting  in  accordance 
with  the  provisions  of  the  ordinance  of  October  12,  1854,  shall 
be  present. 

Art.  81.  Each  chamber  shall  have  the  separate  right  of 
presenting  addresses  to  the  king. 

No  one  may  in  person  present  to  the  chambers,  or  to  one  of 
them  a  petition  or  address. 

Each  chamber  can  transmit  to  the  ministers  the  communica- 
tions made  to  it,  and  demand  information  of  them  in  regard  to 
any  grievances  thus  presented. 

Art.  82.  Each  chamber  shall  be  entitled  to  appoint  for  its 
own  information  commissions  of  inquiry  into  facts. 

Art.  83.  The  members  of  both  chambers  are  representatives 
of  the  whole  people.  They  shall  vote  according  to  their  own  con- 
victions, and  shall  not  be  bound  by  commissions  or  instructions. 

Art.  84.  For  their  votes  in  the  chamber  they  can  never  be 
called  to  account,  and  for  the  opinion  they  express  therein  they 


350  Constitutional  Government 


can  only  be  called  to  account  within  the  chamber  itself,  in  virtue 
of  the  rules  of  order. 

No  member  of  either  chamber  can,  without  its  assent,  be  had 
up  for  examination,  or  be  arrested  during  the  parliamentary  ses- 
sion for  any  penal  offense,  unless  he  be  taken  in  the  act,  or  in 
the  course  of  the  following  day. 

Assent  shall  alike  be  necessary  in  the  case  of  arrest  for  debt. 

All  criminal  proceedings  against  a  member  of  the  chamber, 
and  all  arrests  for  preliminary  examination  or  civil  arrest,  shall 
be  suspended  during  the  parliamentary  session  on  demand  from 
the  chamber  concerned. 

Art.  85.  The  members  of  the  second  chamber  shall  receive 
out  of  the  State  treasury  traveling  expenses  and  a  salary  to  be 
fixed  by  law.     Renunciation  thereof  shall  be  inadmissible. 

Title  VI. 

THE  JUDICIAL  POWER. 

Art.  86.  The  judicial  power  shall  be  exercised  in  the  name 
of  the  king,  by  independent  tribunals  subject  to  no  other  au- 
thority than  that  of  the  law. 

Judgments  shall  be  issued  and  executed  in  the  name  of  the 
king. 

Art.  87.  The  judges  shall  be  appointed  for  life  by  the  king, 
or  in  his  name. 

They  can  only  be  removed  or  temporarily  suspended  from 
office  by  judicial  sentence,  and  for  reasons  previously  prescribed 
by  law.  Temporary  suspension  from  office,  so  far  as  it  does  not 
occur  in  consequence  of  a  law,  and  involuntary  transfer  from 
one  position  to  another,  or  to  the  superannuated  list,  can  occur 
only  from  the  causes  and  in  accordance  with  the  forms  prescribed 
by  law,  and  only  in  virtue  of  a  judicial  sentence. 

But  these  provisions  do  not  apply  to  cases  of  transfer  rendered 
necessary  by  changes  in  the  organization  of  the  courts  or  of  their 
districts. 

Art.  87  [added  February  19,  1879.]  In  the  formation  of 
courts  common  to  the  territory  of  Prussia  and  to  that  of  other 
Federal  States,  deviations  from  the  provisions  of  Article  86,  and 
of  the  first  clause  of  Article  87,  are  permissible. 

Art.  88.     [Abrogated  April  30,  1856.] 

Art.  89.  The  organization  of  the  tribunals  shall  be  determined 
by  law. 

Art.  90.  To  the  judicial  office  only  those  shall  be  appointed 
who  have  qualified  themselves  for  it  as  prescribed  by  law. 


Constitutional  Government  351 


Art.  91.  Courts  for  special  classes  of  cases,  and,  in  particular, 
tribunals  for  trade  and  industry,  shall  be  established  by  statute 
in  those  places  where  local  needs  may  require  them. 

The  organization  and  jurisdiction  of  such  courts,  as  well  as 
their  procedure  and  the  appointment  of  their  members,  the  special 
status  of  the  latter,  and  the  duration  of  their  office,  shall  be  de- 
termined by  law. 

Art.  92.     In  Prussia  there  shall  be  only  one  supreme  tribunal. 

Art.  93.  The  proceedings  of  the  civil  and  criminal  courts  shall 
be  public,  but  the  public  may  be  excluded  by  a  publicly  announced 
resolution  of  the  court,  when  order  or  good  morals  may  seem 
endangered  (by  their  admittance). 

In  other  cases  publicity  of  proceedings  can  only  be  limited  by 
law. 

Art.  94.  [As  amended  May  21,  1852.]  In  criminal  cases  the 
guilt  of  the  accused  shall  be  determined  by  jurymen,  in  so  far  as 
exceptions  are  not  introduced  by  a  law  issued  with  the  previous 
assent  of  the  chambers.  The  formation  of  the  jury-court  shall 
be  regulated  by  a  law. 

Art.  95.  [As  amended  May  21,  1852.]  By  a  law  issued  with 
the  previous  assent  of  the  chambers,  there  may  be  established  a 
special  court,  the  jurisdiction  whereof  shall  include  the  crimes 
of  high  treason,  as  well  as  those  crimes  against  the  internal  and 
external  security  of  the  State,  which  may  be  assigned  to  it  by 
law. 

Art.  96.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  and  of  the  adminis- 
trative authorities  shall  be  determined  by  law.  Conflicts  of  au- 
thority between  the  courts  and  the  administrative  authorities  shall 
be  settled  by  a  tribunal  indicated  by  law. 

Art.  97.  A  law  shall  determine  the  conditions  on  which  public 
officials,  civil  and  military,  may  be  prosecuted,  for  wrongs  com- 
mitted by  them  in  exceeding  their  functions.  But  the  previous 
assent  of  superior  officials  shall  not  be  required  as  a  condition  of 
bringing  suit. 

Title  VII. 

PUBLIC   OFFICIALS    NOT    BELONGING   TO   THE    JUDICIAL    CLASS. 

Art.  98.  The  special  legal  status  (Rechtsverhaltnisse)  of 
public  officials,  including  advocates  and  solicitors  (Staatsanwalte) 
not  belonging  to  the  judicial  class  shall  be  determined  by  a  law 
which,  without  unduly  restricting  the  government  in  the  choice 
of  its  executive  agents,  shall  secure  to  civil  servants  proper  pro- 
tection against  arbitrary  dismissal  from  their  posts  or  deprivation 
of  their  pay. 


352  Constitutional  Government 


Title:  VIII. 

THE  FINANCES. 

Art.  99.  All  income  and  expenditures  of  the  State  shall  be 
estimated  in  advance  for  every  year,  and  be  incorporated  in  the 
budget. 

The  latter  shall  be  annually  fixed  by  a  law. 

Art.  100.  Taxes  and  contributions  to  the  public  treasury  shall 
be  collected  only  in  so  far  as  they  shall  have  been  included  in  the 
budget,  or  authorized  by  special  laws. 

Art.   101.     In  the  matter  of  taxes  there  shall  be  no  privileges. 

Existing  tax-laws  shall  be  subjected  to  a  revision,  and  all  such 
privileges  abolished. 

Art.  102.  State  and  communal  officers  can  levy  fees  only 
when  authorized  by  law. 

Art.  103.  The  contracting  of  loans  for  the  State  treasury  can 
only  be  effected  in  virtue  of  a  law ;  and  the  same  holds  good  of 
guarantees  involving  a  burden  to  the  State. 

Art.  104.  Any  violation  of  the  provisions  of  the  budget  shall 
require  subsequent  approval  by  the  chambers. 

The  accounts  relating  to  the  budget  shall  be  examined  and 
audited  by  the  supreme  chamber  of  accounts.  The  general  budget 
accounts  of  every  year,  including  the  tabular  view  of  the  national 
debt  shall,  with  the  comments  of  the  supreme  chamber  of  ac- 
counts, be  laid  before  the  chambers  for  the  purpose  of  discharg- 
ing the  government  of  responsibility. 

A  special  law  shall  regulate  the  establishment  and  functions 
of  the  supreme  chamber  of  accounts. 


Title  IX. 

THE    COMMUNES,    CIRCUITS,    DISTRICTS,    AND    PROVINCIAL    BODIES. 

Art.  105.  [As  amended  May  24,  1853.]  The  representation 
and  administration  of  the  communes,  circuits  and  provinces  of  the 
Prussian  State,  shall  be  determined  by  special  laws. 

GENERAL  PROVISIONS. 

Art.  106.  Laws  and  ordinances  shall  be  binding  when  pub- 
lished in  the  form  prescribed  by  law. 

The  examination  of  the  validity  of  properly  promulgated  royal 
ordinances  shall  not  be  within  the  competence  of  the  government 
authorities  (Behorde)  but  of  the  chambers  solely. 

Art.   107.     The  constitution  may  be  amended  by  the  ordinary 


Constitutional  Government  353 


method  of  legislation,  and  such  amendment  shall  merely  require 
the  usual  absolute  majority  in  each  chamber  on  two  divisions, 
between  which  there  must  elapse  a  period  of  at  least  twenty-one 
days. 

Art.  1 08.  The  members  of  both  chambers,  and  State  officials, 
shall  take  the  oath  of  fealty  and  obedience  to  the  king,  and  shall 
swear  conscientiously  to  observe  the  constitution. 

The  army  shall  not  take  the  oath  to  observe  the  constitution. 

Art.  109.  Existing  taxes  and  dues  shall  continue  to  be  raised ; 
and  all  provisions  of  existing  statute-books,  single  laws  and  or- 
dinances, which  do  not  contravene  the  present  constitution,  shall 
remain  in  force  until  altered  by  law. 

Art.  no.  All  administrative  authorities  holding  appointments 
in  virtue  of  existing  laws  shall  continue  their  activity  until  the 
issue  of  organic  laws  affecting  them. 

Art.  in.  In  the  event  of  war  or  revolution,  and  pressing 
danger  to  public  security  therefrom  ensuing,  Articles  5,  6,  7,  27, 
28,  29,  30  and  36  of  the  constitution  may  be  suspended  for  a  cer- 
tain time  and  in  certain  districts.  The  details  shall  be  determined 
by  law. 

TEMPORARY  PROVISIONS. 

Art.  112.  Until  the  issue  of  the  law  contemplated  in  Article 
26,  educational  matters  shall  be  governed  by  the  laws  at  present 
in  force. 

Art.  113.  Prior  to  the  revision  of  the  criminal  law,  a  special 
law  will  deal  with  offences  committed  by  word,  writing,  print  or 
pictorial  representation. 

Art.  114.     [Repealed  April  14,  1856.] 

Art.  115.  Until  the  issue  of  the  electoral  law  contemplated 
in  Article  72,  the  ordinance  of  the  thirtieth  of  May,  1849,  touch- 
ing the  election  of  deputies  to  the  second  chamber,  shall  remain 
in  force. 

Art.  116.  The  two  supreme  tribunals  now  existing  shall  be 
combined  into  one.  The  organization  shall  be  prescribed  by  a 
special  law. 

Art.  117.  The  claims  of  State  officials  who  received  a  per- 
manent appointment  before  the  promulgation  of  the  constitution 
shall  receive  special  consideration  in  the  new  laws  regulating  the 
civil  service. 

Art.  118.  Should  changes  in  the  present  constitution  be  ren- 
dered necessary  by  the  German  Federal  constitution  to  be  drawn 
up  on  the  basis  of  the  draft  of  twenty-sixth  of  May,  1849,  such 
alterations  shall  be  decreed  by  the  king;  and  the  ordinances  to 
this  effect  laid  before  the  chambers,  at  their  first  meeting. 


354  Constitutional  Government 


The  chambers  shall  then  decide  whether  the  changes  thus  pro- 
visionally made  harmonize  with  the  Federal  constitution  of  Ger- 
many. 

Art.  119.  The  royal  oath  mentioned  in  Article  54,  as  well  as 
the  oath  prescribed  to  be  taken  by  both  chambers  and  all  State 
officials,  shall  be  taken  immediately  after  the  legislative  revision 
of  the  present  constitution  (Articles  62  and  108)  shall  have  been 
completed. 

In  witness  whereof  we  have  hereunto  set  our  signature  and 
royal  seal.  Given  at  Charlottenburg,  the  thirty-first  of  January, 
1850. 

[l.s.]  Friedrich  Wilhexm. 

Graf  v.  Brandenburg,  v.  Landenberg,  v.  Manteuffel, 
v.  Strotha,  v.  d.  Heydt,  v.  Rabe,  Simons,  v.  Schleinitz. 


REGENCY  OF  PRINCE  WILLIAM  OF  PRUSSIA, 

1858. 

In  the  summer  of  1858,  I  went  to  Germany  and  visited  my 
uncle,  Konigliche  Geheime  Medicinal-  und  Regierungs-Rath  Dr. 
August  Leopold  Ulrich,  who  resided  in  Coblentz.  His  title  in- 
dicates that  was  a  secret  counselor  of  the  king.  This  happened 
to  be  the  psychological  period  in  Prussian  history,  when  the  first 
step  occurred  which  culminated  in  the  final  elevation  of  William 
the  First  to  the  position  of  Emperor  of  the  great  German  Empire. 
My  uncle's  residence  was  on  the  principal  street  running  to  the 
Schloss  (castle)  where  the  Regent,  then  Prince  William,  lived 
when  in  Coblentz,  and  my  uncle  often  called  upon  His  Highness 
on  private  business,  I  suppose,  as  he  left  me  in  the  hall  during 
one  of  these  interviews,  when  I  accompanied  him  to  the  Schloss. 

By  royal  decree  of  October  23d,  1857,  as  stated  by  Bismarck 
in  his  memoirs,  "Prince  William  of  Prussia  was  charged  to  act 
for  King  William  Frederic  IV,  for  the  next  three  months,  and 
this  was  renewed  three  times  for  three  months  each,  but  not 
being  again  extended,  it  lapsed  in  October,  1858."  In  the  sum- 
mer of  1858  a  strong  effort  was  made  to  induce  the  Queen  to 
obtain  the  King's  signature  to  a  letter  to  his  brother,  saying,  that 
he  felt  himself  sufficiently  recovered  to  undertake  the  govern- 
ment, and  he  thanked  the  Prince  for  having  represented  him. 
The  government  would  then,  under  control  of  the  royal  signature, 
be  carried  on  through  Her  Majesty  the  Queen,  by  those  gentle- 
men of  the  court,  who  might  be  called  upon,  or  might  offer  to 
undertake  it.  Bismarck  objected  to  this,  and  notified  Prince 
William,  who  said,  "Then  I  take  my  departure."    Bismarck  how- 


Constitutional  Government  355 


ever  objected  and  summoned  the  minister  Manteuffel,  who  as- 
sisted him  and  wrote  finally  from  Berlin,  October  12,  1858, 
stating  that :  "From  all  these  considerations  the  King  gives  orders 
to  the  next  heir  to  the  throne,  to  do  what  is  laid  down  in  the 
Constitution  of  the  country,  to  meet  such  a  case.  The  directions 
of  the  Constitution,  which,  precisely  on  this  point,  had  been 
drawn  up  in  the  interests  of  the  monarchy,  will  then  be  brought 
into  operation,  and  the  vote  of  the  Diet,  which,  though  superfluous 
after  the  King's  declaration,  is  nevertheless  a  good  ground  pre- 
scribed in  the  Constitution,  will  be  obtained. 

Prince  William  of  Prussia  undertook  the  Regency  October  26, 
1858.  Manteuffel  was  dismissed  November  6  and  Prince  von 
Hohenzollern  succeeded  him. 

In  1862  William,  who  had  become  king  through  the  death  of 
his  brother  in  1861,  appointed  Bismarck  President  of  the  Council, 
who  had  stood  by  Prince  William,  when  first  initiated  into  public 
affairs,  and  was  destined  to  create  for  his  august  master  a  great 
empire  and  a  world  power.  It  was  his  plan  to  eliminate  Austria 
and  establish  a  federal  union  with  Prussia  as  a  central  head, 
instead  of  Austria.  Napoleon  III  interfered  with  this  plan,  and 
he  was  limited  to  the  states  north  of  the  River  Main.  Prussia 
annexed  Hanover,  Hesse,  Nassau  and  Frankfort,  besides  Schles- 
wig-Holstein,  and  these  with  the  other  states,  north  of  the  river 
Main,  comprised  the  North  German  Confederation  of  which  the 
Prussian  king  was  chosen  to  be  President. 

The  Franco-Prussian  War. 

The  Ems  Telegraph  states:  "On  July  2,  1870,  the  Spanish 
ministry  decided  in  favor  of  the  accession  to  that  throne  of 
Leopold,  hereditary  prince  of  Hohenzollern."  This  gave  the  first 
stimulus  in  the  field  of  international  law,  to  the  subsequent 
military  question,  but  still  only  in  the  form  of  a  specifically 
Spanish  matter.  It  was  hard  to  find  in  the  law  of  nations,  a  pre- 
text for  France  to  interfere  with  the  freedom  of  Spain  to  choose 
a  king.  After  the  people  of  Paris  had  made  up  their  minds  to 
war  with  Prussia,  this  was  sought  for,  artificially,  in  the  name 
of  Hohenzollern,  which,  in  itself,  had  nothing  more  menacing  to 
France  than  any  other  German  name. 

Bismarck  states  that:  "The  first  demands  of  France  respect- 
ing the  candidature  for  the  Spanish  throne,  and  which  were  un- 
justifiable, had  been  presented  on  July  4th  and  answered  by  our 
foreign  office  evasively,  though  in  accordance  with  the  truth,  that 
the  ministry  knew  nothing  about  the  matter,  as  His  Majesty  the 
King  had  treated  it  as  a  purely  family  matter.  In  France,  how- 
ever, a  casus  belli  was  being  sought  against  Prussia. 


356  Constitutional  Government 


July  6,  Gramont  declared  in  the  Corps  Legislatif  that :  "We  do 
not  believe  that  respect  for  the  rights  of  the  neighboring  people, 
binds  us  to  suffer  a  foreign  power  to  set  one  of  its  princes  on 
the  throne  of  Charles  V.  .  .  .  This  event  will  not  come  to 
pass,  of  that  we  are  quite  certain.  .  .  .  Should  it  prove 
otherwise,  we  shall  know  how  to  fulfil  our  duty  without  shrink- 
ing, and  without  weakness." 

This  utterance,  Bismarck  says,  was  itself  an  official  interna- 
tional threat  with  the  hand  on  the  sword  hilt. 

The  interview  of  Benedetti  with  the  king  at  Ems  is  well  known. 
An  attitude  taken  by  Bismarck,  von  Moltke,  and  Roon,  as  well 
as  the  entire  German  nation,  which  finally  culminated  in  war. 

"His  Majesty  the  King,  thereupon,  decided  not  to  receive  the 
French  Ambassador  again,  and  sent  to  tell  him  through  the  aide- 
de-camp  on  duty,  that  his  Majesty  had  nothing  further  to  com- 
municate to  the  ambassadors." 

This  war  was  practically  precipitated  by  Emperor  Napoleon  III 
and  ended  by  surrender  to  Germany  and  the  overthrow  of 
Napoleon.  (See  reference  to  Ems  dispatch  in  Bismarck's  Me- 
moirs.) 

Private  Letter  from  Prussia. 
The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  received  by  Bartow 
A.  Ulrich,  of  this  city,  from  his  cousin  at  Berlin,  the  wife  of 
General  Von  Stosch,  of  the  Prussian  army.     It  was  written  at 
the  time  the  news  of  Napoleon's  surrender  reached  Berlin : 

Berlin,  September  3,  1870. 
Respected  Cousin: 

I  thank  you  as  a  cousin  and  patriot  for  your  kind  letter.  King 
William  telegraphed  today  that  Napoleon  had  surrendered  to 
him  in  person.  This  was,  brought  on  by  his  arrogance,  is,  there- 
fore, virtually  at  an  end,  for  as  McMahon  has  capitulated  and 
surrendered  his  army  as  prisoners  of  war,  Marshal  Bazaine,  who 
is  now  in  Metz,  must  do  the  same,  as  he  cannot  expect  other  help, 
and  Paris  will  be  unable  to  struggle  alone. 

Napoleon,  as  I  understand,  has  preferred  to  surrender  himself 
as  a  prisoner  of  war  to  our  chivalrous  King  William  and  preserve 
his  life,  and,  if  possible,  the  Napoleonic  dynasty,  rather  than  re- 
main in  his  own  land.  It  is  really  a  terrible  humiliation  for  the 
haughty  French  nation  to  see  itself  so  completely  conquered  by 
despised  Germany — to  have  won  scarcely  a  single  battle,  and  to 
have  shown  her  own  pitiful  condition  to  the  eyes  of  the  world. 
Our  forefathers — if  they  are  permitted  to  retain  an  interest  in 
the  other  world  in  the  affairs  of  this — would  be  pleased  if  they 


Constitutional  Government  357 


could  see  that  the  descendants  of  the  French  were  compelled  to 
pay  the  debt  that  France  owes  to  the  "Fatherland"  for  the  humili- 
ation and  trouble  brought  upon  it  in  the  past. 

My  father's  (your  uncle  Ulrich)  greatest  wish  was  to  see 
Strasbourg  a  German  city  again.  His  children  have  done  their 
utmost  to  bring  about  the  accomplishment  of  this  desire.  My 
husband,  son  and  brother,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  younger 
relatives  of  my  mother,  are  in  the  field.  The  youngest  brother 
of  my  husband,  at  the  head  of  his  regiment,  was  severely 
wounded,  and  has  now  died  of  his  wounds.  A  nephew  of  mine, 
and  a  younger  cousin  of  his,  have  also  fallen  in  battle.  So  our 
family,  like  many  others,  has  given  some  of  the  dearest  to  save 
the  "Fatherland,"  to  punish  our  hereditary  foe,  and  to  secure 
ourselves  from  him  in  the  future. 

It  is  a  pleasing  sign  of  the  times  that  all  the  Germans  every- 
where, if  ever  so  far  from  their  old  home  and  ever  so  long,  ab- 
sent, extend  the  warmest  sympathy  and  a  helping  hand  to  us. 
Germany,  united  as  it  is  now,  has  never  shown  so  strong  a  de- 
termination to  punish  foreign  overbearance.  Our  best  and  dear- 
est have  willingly  sacrificed  their  lives  and  shed  their  blood. 
Many  severe  losses  have  been  sustained  by  the  highest  and 
wealthiest  of  our  families,  as  well  as  the  lowest  and  poorest;  still, 
no  one  wishes  to  stay  at  home  as  long  as  the  decimated  ranks 
require  to  be  refilled. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  event  of  the  26.  of  September  will  stop 
further  bloodshed,  and  that  diplomatic  negotiations  will  result  in 
such  a  manner  that  our  efforts  and  losses  will  not  have  been  in 
vain — such  as  all  Germany  desires,  and  as  King  William  and 
Bismarck  will  endeavor  to  accomplish. 

Meeting  of  Bismarck  and  Favre. 

signing  preliminary  articles  of  peace  at  versailles. 

In  January,  1 871,  the  Prussians  had  besieged  Paris.  January 
5th,  the  French  forces  under  Gambetta  were  badly  defeated  and 
all  hope  was  lost.  Two  days  later,  Jules  Favre  saw  Bismarck, 
the  iron  chancellor,  at  Versailles,  and  sued  for  peace.  Forty 
thousand  Parisians  had  already  succumbed  to  the  siege  and  there 
were  only  two  weeks'  provisions  within  the  city  walls.  The 
treaty  was  subsequently  signed  at  Frankfort,  May  10th.  France 
was  compelled  to  cede  Alsace,  Lorraine,  Metz  and  Strassburg, 
and  to  pay  in  indemnity  of  1,000,000,000  thaler s,  a  sum  which 
was  said  never  could  be  paid,  but  which  was  settled  long  before 
the  time  it  was  due. 


358  Constitutional  Government 


The  following  is  a  translation  of  a  letter  written  by  Admiral 
Von  Stosch  to  his  wife,  Rosa  Von  Stosch,  born  Ulrich,  giving 
an  account  of  the  meeting  of  Bismarck,  Thiers  and  Favre.  The 
letter  is  taken  from  the  life  of  Admiral  and  General  Von  Stosch, 
published  by  his  son,  Ulrich  Von  Stosch : 

Versailles  26,  2,  1871. 

"The  preliminary  articles  of  peace  were  signed  today  at  a  late 
hour.  Yesterday  I  had  the  opportunity,  which  was  of  great  in- 
terest, of  being  present  at  the  discussion  between  Bismarck  and 
Thiers  and  Favre ;  he  was  alone,  and  wanted  me  present,  so  as  to 
have  someone  posted  in  military  questions,  to  refer  to.  He  had 
investigated  the  matter  thoroughly.  At  the  beginning  he  went 
out ;  Thiers  then  opened  a  window.  Just  to  say  something,  I  re- 
marked, 'It  is  very  warm.'  Thiers  said,  'especially,  when  one  is 
treated  as  we  are.'  The  two  Frenchmen  became  very  excited, 
and  made  long  speeches  over  each  remark  and  proposition. 
Finally  Bismarck  said,  'This  will  not  do ;  at  this  rate  we  will  never 
get  ahead.  I  must  ask  you  to  answer  in  definite  counter  propo- 
sitions/ 

"Thiers  :  'But  they  must  be  proven.' 

"Bismarck:  'No,  you  must  entrust  that  to  me,  so  that  I  may 
understand  the  facts  myself.  At  all  events  I  must  beg  you  to 
have  more  control  over  your  language,  and  keep  your  offensive 
remarks  within  bounds.  You  are  supreme  in  France  and  your 
power  now  is  unlimited.  I,  on  the  contrary,  am  bound  by  my 
instructions,  and  it  becomes  you  to  be  milder.  I  am  bound  to 
follow  the  demands  of  my  superiors.  You  know  that  we  must 
begin  to  shoot  Monday  if  we  have  not  finished  then.  You  must 
thoroughly  understand  this.  Today  we  are  discussing  the  ques- 
tion, and  have  spent  seven  hours  already,  which  does  not  agree 
with  my  health/ 

"The  Frenchmen  were  very  much  chagrined  at  this  'philippic' 
and  Thiers  cried  time  and  again,  'Fie,  my  Count!'  'Fie,  my 
Count!'  Finally  they  said  they  could  go  no  farther  and  rode 
home.  Today  they  are  again  here  and  have,  as  I  am  informed, 
concluded  to  sign  the  Preliminary  Articles  of  Peace. 

"The  poor  men  cannot  arrive  at  any  conclusion,  as  Bismarck 
is  continually  putting  more  stipulations  in  the  preliminary  treaty. 
He  wants  to  be  entirely  free  from  the  Frenchmen  before  others 
have  an  opportunity  to  interfere,  and  he  will  succeed.  These 
long  discussions  require  an  enormous  amount  of  strength,  and 
he  will  make  himself  ill ;  it  is  certain,  however,  that  he  will  suc- 
ceed in  the  end.  I  hope  to  be  through  with  my  duties  at  the  head- 
quarters of  the  king,  and  return  home  with  him  in  the  beginning 


Constitutional  Government  359 


of  March.    How  will  the  work  of  the  ministry  suit?    Today  the 
waters  are  playing  in  honor  of  the  King  of  Wurtemberg." 

The  German  Empire. 

1870. 

The  German  Empire  of  today  might  truly  be  called  the  United 
States  of  Germany.  The  security  of  the  different  states  and 
cities  of  Germany  depends  upon  their  union  under  one  govern- 
ment, and  for  this  reason  a  Confederation  was  formed  and  the 
King  of  Prussia,  the  strongest  state  in  Germany,  created  president 
with  the  title  of  "German  Emperor,"  after  the  Franco-Prussian 
War.  Through  the  wise  administration  of  William  I.,  aided  by 
the  great  chancellor,  Bismarck,  and  von  Moltke,  and  other  great 
generals, — and  later  through  the  efforts  of  William  II.,  united 
Germany  has  become  one  of  the  foremost  nations  of  the  world. 

It  is  stated  by  Burt  Estes  Howard,  Ph.D.,  in  his  book  entitled, 
"The  German  Empire/'  that :  "The  study  of  the  German  Empire, 
from  a  juristic  standpoint,  begins  with  the  founding  of  the  North 
German  Bund.  If,  with  the  formal  dissolution  of  the  Holy 
Roman  Empire  in  1806,  one  period  of  the  constitutional  history 
of  Germany  ended,  the  disruption  of  the  German  Confederation, 
in  1866,  brought  another  period  of  that  history  to  a  no  less  definite 
termination.  The  break  between  the  North  German  Bund  and 
the  German  Confederation  legally  is  no  less  sharp  than  that  be- 
tween the  German  Confederation  and  the  old  Empire." 

"The  legal  continuity  between  the  North  German  Bund  and 
the  present  Empire,  however,  is  complete.  The  modern  German 
state  is  not  something  different  juristically  from  the  North  Ger- 
man Bund.  It  is  rather  an  expansion  of  it.  The  imperial  con- 
stitution is  the  federal  constitution  revised." 

"The  founding  of  the  North  German  Bund,  and  of  the  German 
Empire,  appears  not  as  an  act  of  the  German  people,  but  as  an 
act  of  the  German  States,  existent  in  1867  and  1870.  All  the 
acts  leading  up  to  the  erection  of  the  Federal  States  were  acts 
of  the  States  as  personalities.  In  entering  the  Bund  they  gave  up 
their  sovereignty,  it  is  true,  but  not  their  existence  as  States. 
This  legal  individuality  continued  and  became  the  foundation  of 
the  joint  personality  of  the  Federal  State." 

"The  sovereign  power  lies  with  the  Empire  and  comes  to  ex- 
pression, not  in  the  Kaiser,  who  is  in  no  sense  the  "monarch"  of 
Germany,  but  in  the  'totality  of  the  allied  governments'  regarded 
as  a  single  personality — in  other  words,  in  the  Bundesrat." 

"In  the  German  Empire  we  have  a  strongly  unitarian  power 
to  legislate,  formed  by  a  strongly  federal  power  to  execute." 

In  Volume  I  of  A.  Lawrence  Lowell's  book  entitled,  "Govern- 


360  Constitutional  Government 


ment  and  Parties  in  Continental  Europe,"  he  says,  after  stating 
the  privileges  of  the  different  states,  that :  "It  is  evident  that  the 
German  Empire  is  very  far  from  being  a  federal  union  of  the 
kind  with  which  we  are  familiar.  It  is  rather  a  continuation  of 
the  old  Germanic  Confederation  with  the  center  of  gravity  shifted 
from  the  states  to  the  central  government,  and  the  preponderating 
power  placed  in  the  hands  of  Prussia — the  other  large  states  re- 
taining privileges  roughly  in  proportion  to  their  size."  In  a  note 
he  adds,  "I  do  not  mean  to  touch  the  philosophical  question 
whether  the  sovereignty  has  or  has  not  been  transferred  to  the 
Empire."    (Page  251,  Vol.  I.) 

The  present  United  States  of  Germany,  after  the  Franco- 
Prussian  War,  declared  its  present  Constitution,  as  revised,  on 
the  18th  of  January  1871,  including  in  the  Empire,  the  South 
German  States,  which  were  not  a  part  of  the  North  German 
Bund,  making  in  all  twenty-five  States,  twenty- two  of  which  are 
monarchical  in  their  organization,  while  three  are  republican  City- 
States.  King  William  I.,  King  of  Prussia,  was  chosen  president, 
with  the  title  of  "The  German  Emperor." 

On  the  16th  of  April  1871,  William  I.  issued  a  proclamation 
by  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Council  of  the  German  Confedera- 
tion and  Imperial  Diet,  decreeing  the  adoption  of  a  Constitution 
for  the  Empire.  Under  the  Constitution  all  the  sovereign  and 
independent  states  were  united,  each  state  retaining  its  own  legis- 
lature and  the  control  of  its  local  affairs. 

"An  eternal  union  was  formed,"  it  declares,  "for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  realm  and  the  care  and  welfare  of  the  German  people." 

The  United  States  is  a  republic  and  Germany  a  monarchy. 
These  systems  of  Government  are  antagonistic.  The  German 
rulers  do  not  believe  in  a  republican  system  of  Government,  and 
all  provinces  conquered  by  Germany  would  be  put  under  control 
of  a  strong  military  imperial  Government.  Russia,  Germany  and 
Austria  at  one  time  entered  into  an  alliance  called  the  Holy 
alliance,  the  object  of  which  was  to  stop  the  progress  of  Repub- 
licanism in  Europe  and  America.  This  was  one  of  the  reasons 
that  the  Monroe  Doctrine  was  made  an  American  principle,  as 
heretofore  fully  explained,  laying  down  the  rule  that  no  foreign 
imperial  government  should  get  a  foothold  on  American  soil  in 
the  future.  It  is  necessary  for  a  strong  monarchical  government 
like  Russia,  Austria-Hungary,  or  Prussia  to  maintain  a  large 
military  force  in  order  to  govern  successfully  their  own  nation, 
and  other  provinces  subjugated  by  them.  I  consider  this  whole 
system  as  archaic  in  a  civilized  age,  and  I  object,  and  always  have 
done  so,  since  a  young  man  educated  in  American  institutions, 
(and  a  personal  friend  of  Abraham  Lincoln)  to  this  system  of 
government,  or  its  extension  in  the  world.     According  to  my 


Constitutional  Government  361 


views  of  government  and  my  understanding  of  the  high  culture 
of  the  German  nation  today,  I  would  consider  it  a  blessing  to  the 
country  of  my  forefathers,  if  it  was  entirely  free  from  the  con- 
trol of  a  monarchical  government  like  that  of  Prussia,  which 
practically  rules  the  German  Empire. 

The  present  king  of  Prussia,  who  is  also  the  German  Emperor, 
inherited  his  title  and  power,  and  holds  his  position  through  no 
effort  or  merit  of  his  own.  He  is  surely  a  man  of  great  ability 
and  is  undoubtedly  carrying  out  the  views  inculcated  by  the 
Hohenzollern  family. 

The  fault  of  this  system  does  not  lie  with  the  individual,  but 
is  inherent  in  itself.  A  capable  king  may  be  followed  by  one  who 
is  entirely  incompetent,  or  the  power  given  him  falsely  used. 

The  ten  million  so-called  German-Americans  living  in  the 
United  States,  or  their  descendants  have  enjoyed  life,  liberty, 
and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  without  the  overlordship  of  the 
Hohenzollern  family,  they  have  taken  an  active  part  in  the  affairs 
of  government  and  have  fought  here  during  the  civil  war  to 
maintain  the  constitution.  This  demonstrates  what  they  could  do 
in  Germany,  if  the  Government  was  under  control  of  the  people, 
and  the  President,  and  members  of  both  houses,  were  elected  by 
them  under  a  liberal  republican  constitution. 

The  average  American  President  from  Washington  to  Wilson 
is  way  above  the  average  European  king,  or  emperor,  as  history 
will  prove,  and  these  men  were  elected  by  the  people,  and  do  not 
claim  to  get  their  power  through  "Divine  rights." 

What  I  say  of  Germany,  might  also  of  course  apply  to  other 
European  monarchies,  and  they  would  not  feel  the  loss  of  the 
so-called  "divinely  appointed"  rulers,  more  than  France  has,  the 
loss  of  the  Bourbon  family.  The  world  has  been  ruled  long 
enough  in  this  way. 

In  a  letter  written  to  Bismarck  from  Babelsberg  dated  Novem- 
ber 7th,  1863,  King  William  I.  of  Prussia  states  his  views  as 
to  the  king's  position  in  Prussia  under  the  provisions  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  that  state.  "By  the  customary  law  of  Prussia,  which 
has  not  been  materially  altered  by  the  Constitution,  the  king 
rules,  not  his  ministers.  It  is  only  legislative,  not  governmental, 
functions  that  are  shared  with  the  chambers,  before  which  the 
king  is  represented  by  the  ministers.  It  is  thus  still  the  law,  just 
as  before  the  constitution,  that  the  ministers  are  his  majesty's 
servants,  and  his  chosen  advisors,  but  not  the  rulers  of  the  Prus- 
sian state.  Even,  therefore,  by  the  Constitution,  the  Prussian 
monarchy  is  not  yet  on  a  par  with  that  of  Belgium  or  England. 
Rather  with  us  the  king  still  rules  personally  and  his  authority 
is  limited  in  its  exercise  only  by  some  power,  i.  e.,  only  within 
the  legislative  sphere." 


362  Constitutional  Government 


This  shows  that  Prussia  is  almost  an  absolute  state  as  much  as 
Russia.  Under  this  form  of  government  many  superior  minds 
in  a  nation  are  often  put  under  subjection  to  one  mind,  the  king, 
who  holds  his  position  for  life.  There  may  be  times  when  he  is 
inferior,  incompetent,  or  corrupt,  and  he  still  holds  control. 


The  German  Army. 

Article  No.  53  of  the  Constitution  of  the  German  Empire  states 
that: 

The  Navy  of  the  Empire  is  united  under  the  supreme  command 
of  the  Emperor. 

When  the  North  German  Confederation  was  formed  in  1867, 
no  state  entering  the  Union  save  Prussia,  possessed  a  navy. 
When  she  became  a  part  of  the  new  federal  state,  Prussia  took 
her  navy  with  her  into  the  Bund,  but  the  command  of  the  navy 
remained  still  in  the  hands  of  the  King  of  Prussia. 

Article  No.  63  states  that : 

The  entire  land  forces  of  the  Empire  shall  constitute  a  united 
army,  which  in  war  and  peace  be  under  the  command  of  the 
Emperor. 

When  the  different  states  entered  the  North  German  Con- 
federation, they  brought  with  them  their  armed  forces  and  con- 
tributed them  as  continguents  to  the  fighting  strength  of  the 
Union. 

The  principle  of  unity  in  the  military  organization  of  the  Em- 
pire is  carried  out  in  three  ways: 

(1)  by  placing  the  supreme  command  both  in  peace  and  war 
in  the  hands  of  the  Kaiser; 

(2)  by  introducing  a  uniform  organization,  equipment  and  a 
set  of  tactics  in  all  the  continguents ; 

(3)  by  meeting  the  expenses  of  the  army  out  of  the  common 
treasury. 

The  King  of  Prussia  is  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  Commander- 
in-chief  of  the  Prussian  Continguent,  he  is  also  Commander-in- 
chief  of  all  the  continguents  by  reason  of  the  authority  vested  in 
him  by  the  Imperial  Constitution. 

(See  work  of  Howard  entitled  "German  Empire.") 


Monarchy  Seeks  to  Overthrow  Democracy. 

There  are  influences  at  work  to  retard  the  progress  of  consti- 
tutional government  in  Germany  today  as  in  1848  and  1850.  Dr. 
Buche  of  the  University  of  Berlin  states  that:    "People,  press, 


Constitutional  Government  363 


and  parliamentarism,  are  the  three  evils  in  the  German  Empire 
which  should  be  stamped  out."  Dr.  Boethe  will  discover,  how- 
ever, that  governments  go  forward  and  not  backward  as  civiliza- 
tion and  enlightenment  advance  in  the  world.  This  impetus  is 
irresistible  and  cannot  be  retarded  by  great  armies  or  strong  em- 
pires. Fortunately  the  German  Emperor,  William  II.,  keeps 
abreast  of  the  times  and  is  more  liberal  personally  than  many  of 
his  subjects. 

Prof.  Hans  Delbrueck,  historian  of  the  University  of  Berlin, 
says:  "That  Bismarck  intended  to  overthrow  the  constitution 
of  the  German  Empire  and  abolish  suffrage  in  the  Reichstag  elec- 
tions. The  stand  which  the  present  Emperor  took  in  favor  of 
constitutional  government  in  opposition  to  the  views  of  Bismarck, 
was  the  reason  of  the  retirement  of  the  Iron  Chancellor,  so  that 
Bismarck  even  with  all  his  iron  will  had  to  give  way  to  the 
progressive  world  movement. 

It  also  appears  evident  that  the  imperial  title  is  purely  an  hon- 
orary one,  and  the  financial  support  of  the  Kaiser  is  received  by 
him  as  King  of  Prussia.  It  is  claimed  that  it  is  constitutionally 
impossible  to  vote  money  from  the  imperial  exchequer  for  the 
support  on  private  use  of  the  Emperor,  or  his  family.  This 
illustrates  the  limitations  imposed  in  this  Twentieth  Century 
upon  royalty  by  the  people. 


The  Famous  Wedding  of  the  Kaiser's  Daughter. 

king  george  v.  of  england  and  nicholas  ii.  of  russia  met 
william  ii.,  emperor  of  germany,  in  berlin. 

The  dispute  between  the  two  princely  families  of  Hohenzollern 
and  Guelph  was  settled  November  I,  19 13,  upon  the  assumption 
of  the  government  of  the  duchy  of  Brunswick  by  Prince  Ernest 
August  of  Cumberland,  when  he  promised  unswerving  loyalty 
to  the  German  Empire,  to  the  Emperor  and  federated  rulers  of 
Germany.  This  was  virtually  a  renunciation  of  his  claims  to  the 
Kingdom  of  Hanover,  which  his  father  refused  to  renounce  and 
was  forced  to  live  in  exile  in  Austria. 

Following  Prince  Albert,  who  was  chosen  Regent  in  1884, 
Duke  Johann  Albrecht  of  Mecklenburg- Schwerin  has  reigned 
over  the  duchy  of  Brunswick,  until  the  accession  of  Prince 
Ernest.  The  wedding  of  Prince  Ernest  to  the  daughter  of  the 
Kaiser  was  consummated  May  24,  1913.  Warmly  welcomed  by 
the  people  the  couple  made  their  state  entry  into  the  duchy 


364  Constitutional  Government 


November  3,  1913.  This  marriage  brought  England  and  Ger- 
many into  more  friendly  relations,  upon  this,  the  first  visit,  of 
King  George  to  Germany,  and  the  fact  that  it  was  devoted  en- 
tirely to  family  affairs  had  its  influence. 

At  this  period  three  sovereign  rulers  over  the  greatest  posses- 
sions in  the  world  and  the  largest  number  of  people  were  met  in 
Berlin,  King  George  of  England,  Nicholas  II.  of  Russia,  and 
William  of  Germany. 

A  Great  Change  Has  Taken  PtACE  in  Germany. 

As  a  native  born  American  citizen  of  German  parentage,  whose 
father  came  to  New  York  in  1818  from  Saxony  and  whose  grand- 
father was  professor  in  the  University  of  Jena  from  1775  to  1813, 
and  whose  mother's  father,  Justius  Johann  von  Reisenkampf, 
was  educated  at  Jena  and  later  located  in  Reval,  Russia,  where 
he  held  the  position  of  collector  of  the  port  for  thirty  years,  I 
wish  to  call  attention  to  the  difference  between  the  manner  of 
conducting  the  war  of  1870  and  that  of  the  present  war,  by  the 
German  army  commanders. 

Bismarck,  in  his  reminiscences,  declared  that  1,500  trucks  were 
laden  with  provisions  for  the  Parisians  in  order  to  assist  them  at 
once,  if  they  surrendered,  and  thus  1,500  trucks  were  not  available 
for  the  transportation  of  ammunition.  "After  my  departure 
from  France,"  he  says,  "in  consequence  of  the  change  made  at 
his  majesty's  instance  by  Gen.  von  Stosch  at  Ferieres,  in  our 
treaty  concerning  the  maintenance  of  the  German  troops,  these 
provisions  were  assigned  to  them."  (Gen.  von  Stosch  was  the 
husband  of  my  cousin.) 

At  the  behest  of  Gen.  Roon,  Bismarck  ordered  the  purchase 
of  4,000  horses  and  other  requisitions  in  order  to  prepare  for  the 
bombardment  of  Paris.  "Even  this  was  temporarily  delayed," 
says  Bismarck,  "through  humanitarian  sentiment.  And  the  no- 
tion that  Paris,  although  fortified  and  the  strongest  bulwark  of 
our  opponents,  might  not  be  attacked  the  same  way  as  any  other 
fortress,  had  been  imported  into  our  camp  from  England  by  the 
roundabout  route  of  Berlin,  together  with  the  phrase  about  the 
'Mecca  of  civilization/  and  other  expressions  of  humanitarian 
feeling  rife  and  effective  in  the  camp  of  English  public  opinion. 
From  London  representations  were  received  in  our  most  influen- 
tial circles  to  the  effect  that  the  capitulation  of  Paris  ought  not 
to  be  brought  about  by  bombardment,  but  only  by  hunger. 
Whether  the  latter  method  was  the  more  humane  is  a  doubtful 
point." 

Bismarck  also  states  that  "Queen  Augusta  was  influencing  her 
royal  husband  by  letters  in  the  interest  of  humanity." 


Constitutional  Government  365 


The  crown  prince's  wife,  who  was  a  daughter  of  the  queen  of 
England  and  the  mother  of  the  present  kaiser;  Moltke's  wife,  the 
wife  of  Count  Blumenthal,  chief  of  staff,  and  the  wife  of  Von 
Gottberg  were  all  English  women.  These  were  all  using  their 
influence  in  behalf  of  humane  treatment  of  the  people  besieged 
in  Paris,  and  for  the  general  cause  of  humanity. 

One  does  not  read  in  history  of  poisonous  gases  being  floated 
into  Paris,  or  of  Zeppelins  dropping  bombs  on  innocent  noncom- 
batants.  This  is  to  the  honor  of  Kaiser  William  I.  and  the  crown 
prince,  "Unser  Fritz,"  beloved  of  all,  who  was  the  present  kaiser's 
father.  We  do  not  read  in  history  of  submarines  attacking  and 
sinking  great  passenger  steamships  filled  with  neutrals.  Of 
course,  these  were  not  invented,  but  other  methods  could  have 
been  used  nearly  as  inhuman  if  the  German  commanders  of  that 
time  had  been  anxious  to  perpetrate  acts  of  this  nature. 

I  am  loyal  to  the  German  people  as  a  race,  but  not  to  the 
twenty-two  monarchs,  great  and  small,  who  with  a  select  and  lim- 
ited number  of  war  lords  dominate  now  the  great  mass  of  the 
people  of  the  German  empire.  I  am  not  in  sympathy  with  the 
monarchical  system  prevailing  in  Germany,  which  is  the  antithesis 
of  republicanism,  and  which  confines  all  real  power  in  the  hands 
of  an  hereditary  aristocracy.  It  is  my  belief  that  if  Frederick, 
the  father  of  the  present  kaiser,  had  been  the  ruler  today  this 
unprecedented  war  would  not  have  occurred. 

In  1870  the  Prussians  were  justified  in  besieging  Paris  and  de- 
manding its  capitulation.  France  virtually  forced  Prussia  then 
into  war.  In  1914-1916,  however,  the  circumstances  appear  to 
me  to  be  different.  The  powerful  German  army,  well  equipped 
in  every  particular,  after  invading  without  the  slightest  provoca- 
tion a  neutral  country,  Belgium,  and  devastating  the  cities,  forced 
its  way  into  France,  expecting  to  capture  the  capital  before  it 
could  prepare  for  defense.  In  this  case  it  was  France  fighting 
for  its  fatherland,  and  not  Germany.  Belgium  was  not  invaded 
in  the  Franco-Prussian  war  of  1870.  Bismarck  was  too  wise  a 
chancellor  to  permit  such  an  impolitic  act,  which  would  have 
brought  down  upon  Germany  the  censure  of  neutral  nations. 


An  Unhyphenated  Invocation. 

O,  departed  spirits  of  once  honored  and  adored  citizens  of  the 
land  of  my  forefathers — the  German  fatherland — who  enlight- 
ened the  world  through  the  brilliance  and  superiority  of  your 
intellects — the  soul  of  real  German  culture !  Know  you  that  the 
haughty,  terrible  and  revengeful  war-god  Mars  reigns  in  Germany 


366  Constitutional  Government 


today,  and  has  more  influence  and  holds  greater  control  over  the 
present  generation  of  the  fatherland,  the  descendants  of  your 
once  beloved  fellow  countrymen,  than  all  your  combined  intel- 
lectual and  gifted  accomplishments? 

O,  shade  of  Johann  Wolfgang  von  Goethe,  who  created  an 
immortal  fabric  of  poetic  beauty  and  sought  to  elevate  mankind 
above  the  gross  materiality  of  ancient  barbarous  instincts !  You 
depicted  the  devilish  and  deceptive  Mephistopheles,  whose  influ- 
ence and  counsels  led  only  to  sorrow  and  death. 

O,  shade  of  Frederic  von  Schiller,  the  undaunted  poet  and 
novelist,  the  apostle  of  liberty  and  equality,  the  real  man,  un- 
moved by  the  assumed  superiority  of  kings  claiming  a  divine 
right  to  rule ! 

O,  shade  of  Mendelssohn  and  Mozart,  composers  of  the  most 
sublime  music  of  all  the  ages,  who  lived  in  an  atmosphere  of 
harmony,  the  antithesis  of  war  and  discord! 

O,  shade  of  Alexander  von  Humboldt,  who  unfolded  great 
scientific  truths  in  the  natural  world,  and  in  his  Cosmos  demon- 
strated the  complete  harmony  and  coordination  of  all  created 
matter  and  the  perfection  of  the  laws  of  the  universe ! 

O,  shade  of  Immanuel  Kant,  the  super-intellect,  who  in  his 
Critique  of  Pure  Reason  analyzed  the  human  mind  and  pointed 
out  its  defects,  seeking  to  elevate  the  understanding  by  training 
it  to  grasp  pure  reason,  which  alone  is  infallible  and  does  not 
depend  on  the  testimony  of  the  material  senses! 

O,  shade  of  Martin  Luther,  who  translated  the  Bible  into  Ger- 
man, and  thus  enlightened  the  German  mind  by  the  illuminating 
truths  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus ! 

Return,  O  great  spirits  of  the  loved  and  beautiful  fatherland, 
the  glorious  regions  of  the  Rhine,  the  Moselle,  the  Neckar,  the 
Elbe,  the  Danube,  the  home  of  the  old  and  learned  universities, 
of  music  and  poetry,  of  dance  and  mirth,  the  instructors  and  be- 
loved friends  of  the  student  and  artist!  Calm  with  your  benign 
influence  the  unchristian  spirit  of  hate,  of  revenge,  of  war,  of 
conquest ! 

Counteract  the  false  Machiavelian  philosophy  of  Heinrich  von 
Treitschke  and  von  Bernhardi.  Show  the  present  generation 
that  intellectual  achievements  in  science,  philosophy,  poetry, 
mechanical  and  commercial  activities,  will  conquer  the  world  and 
gain  more  admiration  easier,  more  enduring  and  legitimate,  than 
brute  force,  backed  by  destructive  militarism — a  thing  unneces- 
sary except  for  the  protection  of  the  state ! 

Teach  the  present  generation  that  it  should  endeavor,  as  in  the 
past,  to  gain  and  distribute  knowledge  and  elevate  itself  and  the 
nation  into  the  regions  of  pure  thought  and  the  brotherhood  of 
all  men! 


Constitutional  Government  367 


What  has  brought  about  this  change  in  Germany?  Who  has 
substituted  militarism  and  the  appalling  manufacture  of  muni- 
tions of  war  for  wholesale  destruction,  in  place  of  art,  poetry, 
music,  and  metaphysics?  Who  has  led  Germany  away  from  the 
intellectual  atmosphere  of  the  age  of  Goethe,  Schiller,  Kant,  L,es- 
sing,  Humboldt,  Mozart  and  Beethoven,  back  to  the  days  of 
Alexander  or  Julius  Caesar? 

It  must  be  the  work  of  a  controlling  individual  mind  in  power, 
secretly  planning  for  world-wide  conquests,  who  trained  the 
present  generation  for  this  end.  No  European  State  has  been 
interfered  with  on  the  high  seas,  any  more  than  the  United  States, 
and  the  ships  of  Germany  have  had  free  entry  into  all  the  ports 
of  the  world,  until  the  present  war  was  precipitated.  The  ex- 
perience of  Germany,  France,  Italy,  England  and  the  United 
States,  as  well  as  other  Nations  for  the  past  half-century,  has 
been  that  nations  progress  faster,  and  accomplish  more  in  every 
line  of  legitimate  enterprise  during  times  of  peace,  than  in  a 
period  of  war.  Maintaining  an  army  for  defensive  purposes  is 
always  necessary,  but  this  does  not  justify  attacking  in  advance 
adjoining  States  without  provocation.  It  is  absurd  to  pretend 
that  any  nation  can  extend  the  higher  culture  by  military  force 
upon  other  countries. 

There  exists  in  this  world  certain  families  accidentally  elevated, 
materially  above  the  great  mass  of  the  world's  population,  thru 
accumulated  power  obtained  by  force,  whose  chief  object  is  to 
extend  their  sovereignty  over  additional  territory.  As  long  as 
these  families  remain  in  control,  under  a  system  of  monarchical 
government,  war  will  be  forced  upon  different  nations  thru  real 
or  assumed  justification  to  satisfy  the  ambition  of  ??? 

The  United  States  of  America  has  remained  united  and  has 
progressed  in  commerce  and  education.  It  has  become  a  world 
power,  without  the  aid  or  control  of  any  king,  emperor,  czar,  or 
large  standing  army.  The  presidents  of  our  republic,  as  a  rule, 
have  been  equal,  if  not  superior  in  ability  to  the  so-called  divinely 
appointed  rulers  of  Europe,  who  believe  themselves  justified  in 
dividing  the  earth  between  their  respective  families. 

My  grandfather,  Johann  August  Heinrich  Ulrich,  stated  in  his 
work  on  metaphysics,  published  in  Jena,  where  he  was  a  professor 
and  contemporary  with  Goethe  and  Schiller  as  well  as  Kant,  that 
"we  must  look  at  the  world  as  the  most  perfect  and  best  world 
here  as  a  moral  unit,  as  a  system  of  means  and  ends,  the  work 
of  an  infinitely  good,  wise  and  powerful  author ;  and  before  our 
eyes  is  the  thought  of  a  relative,  highest  perfection,  where  there- 
fore the  best  adapted  means  are  prepared  for  the  best  and  greatest 
purpose."  That  is  our  gospel.  That  is  also  the  living  gospel  of 
the  real  Germany. 


368  Constitutional  Government 


There  is  nothing  in  this  philosophy  that  corresponds  with  the 
"iron  fist"  of  Bismarck,  or  the  "military  force"  of  Treitschke, 
but  it  is  in  harmony  with  the  real  culture  of  the  days  of  Kant 
and  Goethe.  Von  Bernhardi  and  his  instructor,  Von  Treitschke, 
are  compelled  to  go  back  one  hundred  years  in  order  to  discover 
in  Germany  example  of  real  German  culture.  It  is  evident  that 
this  literary  culture  has  not  been  conspicuous  within  the  last 
forty  years  of  Germany's  military  preparedness.  Instead,  many 
books,  pamphlets  and  contributions  to  magazines  emanating  from 
German  professors  and  authors,  have  been  pronounced  in  their 
advocacy  of  militarism,  conquests  and  the  efficacy  of  brute  force. 

It  is  imperialism  and  military  force  and  perhaps  efficiency,  but 
not  real  culture  as  we  understand,  that  would  obtain  in  conquered 
provinces  if  the  government  of  Germany  were  extended.  It 
would  be  efficiency  without  liberty.  I  do  not  care  to  extend  this 
system  or  encourage  its  extension  directly  or  indirectly.  As  far 
as  culture  is  concerned,  America  now  has  a  large  number  of  well- 
organized  universities  containing  five  or  six  thousand  students 
each  and  these  universities  are  creating  in  America  a  class  of 
highly  cultured  citizens  which  will  be  equal  to  the  same  class  in 
Europe. 

Not  German-Americans 

But 

American  Citizens  of  German  Parentage. 

"The  destiny  of  the  Germans  and  their  descendants  in  our 
republic  is  a  question  that  may  well  be  considered  by  all  Amer- 
ican citizens,  but  especially  by  the  Germans  themselves.  For 
centuries  past,  Germany  has  been  the  great  centre  of  learning 
and  profound  research  in  Europe,  and  has  accomplished  a  great 
deal  towards  the  development  of  liberal  institutions,  and  per- 
sonal and  national  freedom.  As  Athens  was  to  Greece,  so  Ger- 
many has  been  and  is  to  Europe.  In  its  universities  have  been 
educated  some  of  the  greatest  historians,  poets,  theologists, 
geologists,  statesmen,  diplomats  and  princes  known  to  the  world. 
Should  the  genius  of  the  Germans  shine  forth  with  its  native 
brilliancy,  altho  transplanted  on  our  American  soil,  and  developed 
under  the  liberal  institutions  of  a  free  government,  why  not 
expect  in  time  results  equal  to  those  accomplished  in  their  native 
land?  With  the  superior  advantages  that  may  be  derived  in  our 
country  with  unrestricted  privileges,  should  they  not  surpass  far 
the  children  of  continental  monarchies  ?  Unless  they  abuse  their 
newly  acquired  liberties,  they  undoubtedly  will.    Upon  this  pivot 


Constitutional  Government  369 


hangs  the  destiny  of  the  race,  and  the  answer  to  the  question  as 
to  their  future  glory  and  renown  in  our  great  republic.  A  quarter 
of  a  century  hence  the  effects  of  past  ages  of  oppression  and 
monarchical  rule  upon  the  races  who  have  emigrated  to  this 
country  will  be  buried  in  oblivion.  At  the  expiration  of  that 
time,  if  not  sooner,  rest  assured  the  powerful  and  native  genius 
of  the  Germans,  where  not  destroyed  by  the  results  of  dissipation, 
will  spring  forth  in  all  its  brilliancy  and  vigor,  as  a  strong  man 
arising  from  refreshing  slumber,  and  carry  this  mighty  republic 
upward  and  onward  to  an  enduring  and  glorious  future,  as  yet 
uncontemplated  by  its  statesmen  and  scholars.  They  will 
strengthen  the  barriers  that  must  be  established  to  check 
the  power  of  an  overbearing  moneyed  aristocracy.  They  will 
create  equality  and  place  superiority  upon  the  ground  of  intellect 
only,  and  thereby  break  down  the  domineering  rule  of  the  rich 
though  often  ignorant  leaders  of  our  present  social  system.  They 
will  encourage  a  love  and  respect  for  music  and  the  fine  arts, 
consequently  refining  the  national  tastes,  and  stop  the  maddening 
desire  for  gain  that  is  destroying  the  health,  happiness  and 
strength  of  our  people,  and  corrupting  every  department  of  our 
government. 

"But  to  accomplish  all  this,  the  Germans  and  their  descendants 
among  us  have  a  great  duty  to  perform.  They  owe  a  duty  to  the 
past,  to  the  present  and  to  the  future.  The  accumulated  learning 
and  wisdom  of  the  past,  the  literature  of  Germany  should  be 
brought  down  to  the  present,  promulgated  in  America,  and  trans- 
mitted through  the  rising  generations  to  the  future.  In  further- 
ance of  this  aim  the  German  language  is  and  should  continue  to 
be  taught  in  all  our  city  public  schools.  A  great  step  forward 
must  be  taken  as  to  what  men  drink,  and  herein  let  Germans  show 
a  progressive  spirit,  and  break  off  old  and  debasing  habits. 

"Carlisle  introduced  Goethe  and  Schiller  by  translating  their 
works  to  the  English,  and  no  higher  authority  could  be  obtained 
than  his  as  to  their  talents  and  literary  achievements.  There  are 
many  Germans  of  culture  in  America,  and  they  do  honor  to 
themselves  and  their  countrymen  when  they  seek  to  revive  the 
memory  of  such  rare  and  gifted  men  as  Schiller,  Goethe,  Kant, 
Luther  or  Mendelssohn  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

"The  great  power  of  the  Germans  should  be  directed  aright 
politically,  and  their  loyalty  remain  unquestioned.  Their  influ- 
ence and  suffrage  should  not  be  lost  to  the  welfare  of  the  republic 
by  being  diverted  into  channels  which  will  tend  to  strengthen 
those  who  are  hostile  to  our  interests  as  a  nation." 

Should  this  be  done  here,  and  the  intellectual  glory  of  the  land 
of  their  ancestors  be  perpetuated  for  generations  through  them, 
keeping  them  faithful  to  the  preserving  influence  of  correct  and 


370  Constitutional  Government 


moral  principles,  and  free  from  superstition  or  bigotry,  as  well 
as  loyal  to  a  republican  form  of  government,  time  will  reveal  in 
them  the  superiority  of  their  race ;  while  the  halls  of  our  national 
and  state  legislatures,  the  bench  of  our  chief  justices,  the  chair 
of  our  presidents,  as  well  as  the  pulpit  and  professor's  chair  will 
be  often  meritoriously  filled  by  those  in  whose  veins  flows  the 
blood  of  the  Teutons. 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE. 

Chaban  5,  1327  (July  24,  1908). 

(Translated  from  the  French  by  Eugene  C.  LeBault.) 

Article  1.  The  Ottoman  Empire  is  composed  of  the  lands,  the 
possessions  and  the  privileged  provinces  actually  in  existence. 

It  forms  an  indivisible  element,  from  which  no  part  shall  ever 
be  detached  for  any  reason  whatsover. 

Art.  2.     Constantinople  is  the  capital  of  the  Ottoman  Empire. 

This  city  does  not  have,  to  the  exception  of  other  cities  of  the 
Empire,  any  special  privileges  nor  immunities  of  its  own. 

Art.  3.  The  Ottoman  sovereignty,  which  is  vested  in  the  per- 
son of  the  Sovereign,  the  Caliph,  supreme  of  Islam,  belongs  to 
the  oldest  prince  of  the  dynasty  of  Osman,  as  per  regulations 
established  ab  antique  On  his  advent  to  the  throne,  the  Sov- 
ereign swears,  in  the  general  assembly,  of  if  it  is  not  in  session, 
on  its  first  meeting,  to  respect  the  dispositions  of  the  Constitution 
and  to  be  loyal  to  the  country  and  the  nation. 

Art.  4.  His  Imperial  Majesty  the  Sultan  is  by  title  of  supreme 
Caliph,  the  protector  of  the  Mussulman  religion. 

He  is  the  Sovereign  and  the  Pashah  of  all  the  Ottomans. 

Art.  5.  His  Imperial  Majesty  the  Sultan  is  irresponsible;  his 
person  is  sacred. 

Art.  6.  The  liberty  of  the  members  of  the  Ottoman  imperial 
dynasty,  their  personal  property,  movable  or  immovable,  and 
their  civil  allowance  during  life,  shall  be  under  the  guarantee 
of  all. 

Art.  7.  H.  I.  M.  the  Sultan  counts  amongst  his  sovereign 
prerogatives :  the  mention  of  his  name  in  the  mosques  during 
public  prayers ;  the  stamping  of  coins ;  the  conferring  of  grades 
and  decorations  as  per  special  regulations  governing  same;  the 
nomination  to  high  public  offices  as  per  special  laws;  the  choice 
and  nomination  of  the  grand-vizier  and  the  high  priest,  and  the 
investing  of  the  cabinet  members  with  power,  which  the  grand- 


Constitutional  Government  371 


vizier  forms  and  presents  for  his  approval;  in  case  of  necessity 
the  revocation  and  change  of  ministers,  as  per  regulations;  the 
sanction,  the  promulgation  and  enactment  of  general  laws;  the 
making  of  regulations  regarding  the  operations  of  the  depart- 
ments of  State  and  the  manner  of  enforcing  the  laws;  the 
initiative  of  all  the  laws;  the  maintenance  and  execution  of  the 
civil  and  religious  laws ;  the  investiture  of  the  chiefs  of  the  priv- 
ileged provinces  in  the  manner  which  has  been  conceded  them; 
the  commandment  of  the  land  and  naval  forces;  the  declaration 
of  war;  the  making  of  peace;  the  commutation  and  delay  of  the 
sentences  passed  by  the  criminal  courts ;  the  proclamation  of  gen- 
eral amnesties  approved  by  the  national  assembly;  the  opening 
and  closing  of  the  parliamentary  sessions ;  the  summoning  of  the 
national  assembly  for  special  session  under  extraordinary  cir- 
cumstances; the  dissolution  of  the  House  of  Deputies,  with  the 
permission  of  the  Senate  as  per  Article  35,  to  proceed  with  new 
elections,  and  to  call  to  meeting  the  new  assembly  in  the  space 
of  three  months;  the  conclusion  of  all  treaties. 

Only  the  approval  of  Parliament,  is  necessary  for  the  con- 
clusion of  treaties  regarding  the  peace,  commerce,  the  secession 
or  annexation  of  territory,  the  fundamental  and  individual  rights 
of  the  Ottoman  subjects,  and  those  for  which  is  necessary  for 
the  State  to  spend  money.  In  case  of  a  change  of  ministers,  when 
Parliament  is  not  in  session,  the  responsibility  of  this  change  shall 
fall  upon  the  new  cabinet. 

PUBLIC  RIGHT  OP  THE  OTTOMANS. 

Art.  8.  All  the  subjects  of  the  Empire  are  called  Ottomans, 
no  matter  what  religion  they  profess. 

The  rights  of  Ottoman  are  acquired  or  lost  according  to  the 
case  specified  by  law. 

Art.  9.  All  Ottomans  shall  enjoy  individual  liberty,  on  the 
condition  that  they  do  not  attempt  against  the  liberty  of  others. 

Art,  10.  Individual  liberty  shall  be  inviolable.  No  one  can, 
without  any  pretext,  be  arrested  or  sentenced,  except  according 
to  the  manner  and  case  determined  by  religious  and  civil  laws. 

Art.  11.     The  State  religion  shall  be  that  of  Islam. 

Even  though  safeguarding  this  principle,  the  State  protects  the 
free  exercise  of  all  cults  recognized  in  the  Empire  and  maintains 
the  religious  privileges  given  to  the  various  communities,  on  the 
condition  that  they  do  not  offend  the  public  order  and  good 
habits. 

Art.  12.  The  press  is  free  within  the  limits  set  by  law.  It 
cannot  under  any  pretext  be  subjected  to  previous  censure,  before 
the  impression. 


372  Constitutional  Government 


Art.  13.  The  Ottomans  are  at  liberty  to  form  commercial, 
industrial  or  agricultural  associations,  within  the  limits  determined 
by  the  laws  and  regulations, 

Art.  14.  One  or  more  persons  belonging  to  the  Ottoman  na- 
tionality have  the  right  to  present  petitions  to  the  competent  au- 
thority, regarding  infractions  of  laws  or  regulations,  committed 
against  their  person,  or  against  the  public  interest,  and  they  can 
also  address,  as  a  reclamation,  signed  petitions  to  the  Ottoman 
General  Assembly,  complaining  of  the  conduct  of  functionaries 
or  employees  of  the  State. 

Art.  15.     Education  shall  be  free. 

Each  Ottoman  may  hold  public  or  private  courses,  on  the  con- 
dition that  he  complies  with  the  law. 

Art.  16.  All  schools  shall  be  placed  under  the  superintendence 
of  the  State. 

The  government  shall  find  proper  means  to  unify  and  regulate 
the  teaching  given  to  all  Ottomans,  but  it  cannot  interfere  with 
the  religious  teaching  of  the  different  communities. 

Art.  17.  All  Ottomans  are  equal  before  the  law.  They  have 
the  same  rights  and  duties  towards  the  country,  no  matter  what 
their  religion  may  be. 

Art.  18.  The  admission  to  public  offices  shall  be  upon  the 
condition  that  Turkish  must  be  recognized  as  the  official  language 
of  the  State. 

Art.  19.  All  Ottomans  shall  be  admitted  to  public  office,  ac- 
cording to  their  aptitude,  their  merit  and  their  capacity. 

Art.  20.  The  laying  and  division  of  taxes  shall  be  made  ac- 
cording to  special  laws  and  regulations,  in  proportion  to  the 
fortune  of  each  contributor. 

Art.  21.  Movable  and  immovable  property,  established  ac- 
cording to  regulations  shall  be  guaranteed. 

Expropriation  cannot  take  place,  except  in  a  case  of  public 
utility  duly  stated,  and  against  previous  payment,  according  to 
law,  of  the  value  to  be  expropriated. 

Art.  22.     The  home  is  inviolable. 

The  authorities  cannot  enter  by  force  into  any  house,  except 
in  the  cases  specified  by  law. 

Art.  23.  No  one  shall  be  compelled  to  appear  in  another  but 
the  competent  court,  as  per  law  of  procedure  that  shall  be  enacted. 

Art.  24.  The  confiscation  of  goods,  feudal  taxation  upon 
servants,  and  djereme  (exaction  under  the  form  of  pecuniary 
penalty)  shall  be  prohibited. 

All  contributions  raised  legally  in  time  of  war  and  measures 
made  necessary  by  a  state  of  war,  shall  be  excepted  from  this 
disposition. 


Constitutional  Government  373 


Art.  25.  No  sum  of  money  shall  be  taken  as  duty  or  tax  or 
under  any  other  denomination  except  by  virtue  of  one  law. 

Art.  26.  Questioning  and  torture  in  all  its  forms  are  com- 
pletely and  absolutely  prohibited. 

THE  MINISTERS. 

Art.  27.  As  H.  I.  M.  the  Sultan  vests  the  power  of  Grand 
Vizier  and  high  priest  on  the  persons  upon  whom  he  has  placed 
his  confidence,  he  shall  also  confirm  in  their  functions,  by  imperial 
decree,  the  other  ministers,  chosen  and  proposed  by  the  Grand 
Vizier,  who  is  charged  with  the  formation  of  the  cabinet. 

Art.  28.  The  council  of  ministers  meets  under  the  presidency 
of  the  Grand  Vizier  and  has  for  its  duty  the  deliberation  of  im- 
portant affairs,  both  exterior  and  interior.  Deliberations  that 
must  be  submitted  to  the  sanction  of  H.  I.  M.  the  Sultan  shall  be 
enacted  by  imperial  decree. 

Art.  29.  Each  ministerial  department  head,  administers 
within  the  limits  of  his  power,  the  affairs  that  are  assorted  to  his 
department,  and  those  that  are  beyond  his  power  he  must  refer 
to  the  grand  vizier.  The  grand  vizier  shall  dispose  of  the  reports 
sent  to  him  by  the  head  of  each  department,  by  bringing  them 
before  the  council  of  ministers,  and  submitting  them  immediately 
to  the  imperial  sanction,  or  on  the  other  hand  to  enact  them  him- 
self or  submit  them  to  the  decision  of  H.  I.  M.  the  Sultan, 
Special  rules  will  regulate  this  division  of  duties  for  each  minis- 
terial department.  The  high  priest  shall  submit  directly  to  the 
approbation  of  the  Sultan  the  affairs  that  do  not  need  ministerial 
deliberation. 

Art.  30.  The  ministers  are  jointly  responsible  before  the  House 
of  Deputies,  for  the  general  policy  of  the  government,  and  in- 
dividually for  their  personal  acts.  The  decisions  that  need  im- 
perial approval  shall  not  be  valid  unless  they  are  signed  by  the 
sovereign  and  countersigned  by  the  grand  vizier  and  competent 
minister,  who  assumes  in  this  manner  the  responsibility.  The 
decisions  passed  by  the  Council  shall  be  signed  by  all  the  ministers 
and  in  case  they  need  imperial  approval  they  shall  be  preceded 
by  the  signature  of  the  sovereign. 

Art.  31.  If  one  or  several  members  of  the  House  of  Deputies 
wishes  to  make  a  complaint  against  one  of  the  ministers  regard- 
ing his  responsibility  and  on  account  of  things  which  the  House 
has  a  right  to  know,  the  complaint  shall  be  given  to  the  president, 
who  will  send  it,  inside  of  three  days,  by  virtue  of  internal  regula- 
tions, to  the  bureau  charged  with  examining  the  complaint  and 
deciding  whether  it  should  be  submitted  to  the  deliberation  of  the 
House. 


374  Constitutional  Government 


The  decision  of  this  bureau  shall  be  taken  by  majority  vote, 
after  the  necessary  information  has  been  obtained  and  explana- 
tions given  by  the  Minister  accused. 

If  the  bureau  decides  to  submit  the  complaint  to  the  House, 
the  report  stating  this  decision,  shall  be  read  in  public  session, 
and  the  House,  after  having  heard  the  explanations  of  the  Minis- 
ter accused,  who  has  been  called  to  assist  at  this  session,  or  of 
his  representative,  shall  vote  by  absolute  majority  of  its  members 
on  the  conclusions  of  this  report. 

In  case  these  decisions  are  adopted,  an  address  asking  for  the 
trial  of  the  Minister  accused,  is  sent  to  the  Grand  Vizier  who  in 
his  turn  submits  it  to  H.  I.  M.  the  Sultan,  and  then  forwards  it 
to  the  High  Court  by  virtue  of  Imperial  Decree. 

Art.  32.  A  special  law  shall  determine  the  manner  of  pro- 
ceeding for  the  judgment  of  ministers. 

Art.  33.  There  shall  be  no  difference  between  the  Ministers 
and  private  parties,  as  regards  private  matters  which  are  outside 
of  their  functions. 

Art.  34.  The  Minister  against  whom  judgment  has  been  pro- 
nounced by  the  accusation  Chamber  of  the  High  Court,  shall  be 
suspended  from  his  functions  until  he  has  been  cleared  of  the 
charges  brought  against  him. 

Art.  35.  In  case  of  a  disagreement  between  the  ministers  and 
House  of  Deputies,  if  the  ministers  persist  in  their  proposition 
and  if  the  House  opposes  it  formally  and  repeatedly,  the  ministry 
is  obliged  to  submit  to  the  decision  of  the  House  or  send  their 
resignation.  In  case  of  a  resignation,  if  the  new  ministry  persists 
in  the  project  of  the  preceding  and  the  House  again  rejects  it  by 
a  justified  vote,  H.  I.  M.  the  Sultan  can  dissolve  the  House  of 
Deputies,  with  the  purpose  of  proceeding  with  the  new  elections 
following  dispositions  under  Article  7.  But  if  the  new  House 
persists  in  the  decision  of  the  precedent  then  the  acceptation  of 
this  decision  becomes  obligatory. 

Art.  36.  In  case  of  urgent  necessity,  if  the  general  assembly 
is  not  in  session,  and  if  there  is  no  time  to  call  the  House  for  a 
vote,  on  a  law  to  guard  the  State  against  a  danger,  or  safeguard 
the  public  security,  the  ministry  can  take  the  steps  necessary, 
which  will  be  in  force  temporarily  until  the  convocation  of  Parlia- 
ment, if  they  are  not  against  the  precepts  of  the  Constitution  and 
upon  the  condition  that  they  shall  be  sanctioned  by  imperial  decree 
and  submitted  to  the  general  assembly  as  soon  as  it  convenes. 

Art.  37.  Each  Minister  has  the  right  to  be  present  at  the  ses- 
sions of  the  Senate  and  the  House  of  Deputies,  or  to  send  a  repre- 
sentative from  the  highest  functionaries  in  his  department. 

He  has  also  the  right  to  be  heard  before  any  member  of  the 
House  who  has  been  given  the  floor. 


Constitutional  Government  375 


Art.  38.  When  following  a  decision  taken  by  majority  vote, 
a  minister  is  asked  to  appear  before  the  House  of  Deputies  and 
give  explanations,  he  is  obliged  to  answer  all  questions  put  to 
him,  either  by  appearing  personally  or  delegating  a  superior 
functionary  of  his  department.  He  has  also  the  right  of  post- 
poning his  answer,  if  he  thinks  necessary,  taking  upon  himself 
the  responsibility  of  this  act.  All  vote  of  suspicion  emitted  by 
the  majority  of  deputies,  following  an  interpellation  against  a 
minister,  shall  bring  about  his  downfall,  in  the  same  manner  as 
a  vote  of  suspicion  emitted  against  the  president  of  the  council 
shall  bring  about  the  downfall  of  the  ministry. 


PUBLIC  FUNCTIONARIES. 

Art.  39.  All  nominations  for  the  different  public  offices  shall 
be  made  according  to  the  regulations  that  determine  the  merit 
and  capacity  needed  for  admission  into  a  State  office. 

All  functionaries  nominated  under  these  conditions  cannot  be 
revoked  or  changed: 

If  it  is  not  proven  that  his  conduct  legally  warrants  his  recall. 

If  he  has  not  sent  his  resignation,  or  if  his  recall  is  not  judged 
indispensable  by  the  Government. 

The  functionaries  that  have  given  proof  of  good  conduct  and 
honesty,  and  those  whose  recall  the  Government  has  judged  in- 
dispensable, shall  have  the  right  of  advancement,  or  of  a  retiring 
pension,  or  to  the  guarantees  of  reserve,  as  per  dispositions  which 
shall  be  determined  by  special  regulation. 

Art.  40.  The  duties  of  the  various  functions  shall  be  deter- 
mined by  special  regulations. 

Each  functionary  is  responsible  within  the  limits  of  his  duties. 

Art.  41.  All  functionaries  must  respect  their  superiors,  but 
obedience  is  not  obligatory  except  as  regards  orders  given  within 
the  limits  specified  by  law. 

As  regards  acts  committed  against  the  law,  the  fact  that  the 
offender  is  obeying  a  superior,  does  not  detract  from  the  respon- 
sibility of  the  functionary  that  commits  them. 


THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY. 

Art.  42.  The  General  Assembly  is  composed  of  two  Houses : 
the  Senate  and  the  House  of  Deputies. 

Art.  43.  The  two  Houses  composing  the  national  assembly 
convene  of  their  own  right,  the  first  day  of  November  of  each 
year.    The  opening  of  the  session  takes  place  by  imperial  decree. 


376  Constitutional  Government 


The  closing  is  fixed  for  the  first  day  of  March  following  and 
shall  also  be  pronounced  by  virtue  of  imperial  decree.  Neither 
of  the  Houses  shall  convene  on  a  different  date  from  the  other. 

Art.  44.  H.  I.  M.  the  Sultan  can,  according  to  circumstances, 
be  they  his  own,  or  by  written  demand  of  the  absolute  majority 
of  the  deputies,  advance  the  opening  of  the  general  assembly  or 
prolong  the  same,  either  by  his  own  wish  or  by  decision  of  the 
assembly  itself. 

Art.  45.  The  solemnity  of  the  opening  shall  take  place  in  the 
presence  of  H.  I.  M.  the  Sultan,  either  in  person,  or  represented 
by  the  Grand  Vizier  and  in  the  presence  of  the  ministers  and 
members  of  both  Houses. 

An  Imperial  message  shall  be  read  stating  the  interior  situation 
of  the  Empire,  and  the  exterior  relations  of  the  state,  for  the 
past  year,  and  indicating  the  measures  that  are  advisable  to  take. 

Art.  46.  All  of  the  members  of  the  General  Assembly  shall 
give  oath  that  they  will  be  loyal  to  H.  I.  M.  the  Sultan  and  to  the 
country,  to  observe  the  Constitution,  to  fulfill  the  duties  that  have 
been  given  them,  and  to  do  nothing  against  their  duties. 

The  giving  of  oath  by  the  new  members  shall  take  place  in 
the  opening  session,  in  the  presence  of  the  Grand  Vizier,  and 
after  the  opening  session  before  their  respective  presidents,  in 
public  session  of  the  House  to  which  they  belong. 

Art.  47.  The  members  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  be  free 
in  their  votes  and  opinions. 

They  shall  not  be  bound  by  instructions  or  promises,  nor  in- 
fluenced by  threats. 

They  cannot  be  prosecuted  for  their  opinions  or  votes  given 
during  the  course  of  deliberation  in  the  House  of  which  they 
form  part,  unless  same  are  against  the  rules  of  said  House,  in 
which  case  the  dispositions  edited  by  regulations  shall  be  applied 
to  his  case. 

Art.  48.  Any  member  of  the  General  Assembly,  who  by  ab- 
solute majority  of  votes  is  accused  of  treason,  or  of  an  attempt 
at  violating  the  Constitution  or  fraud,  or  who  has  been  legally 
sentenced  to  imprisonment  or  exile,  shall  loose  his  position  of 
senator  or  deputy. 

The  judgment  and  application  of  the  sentence  shall  belong  to 
the  competent  court. 

Art.  49.  Each  member  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  vote 
in  person.    He  has  the  right  to  be  absent  at  the  moment  of  voting. 

Art.  50.  No  one  shall  be,  at  the  same  time,  member  of  the  two 
Houses. 

Art.  51.  No  deliberation  shall  take  place  in  either  of  the 
Houses  unless  half  of  its  members  are  present. 

Excepting  the  cases  for  which  a  two-third  majority  is  required, 


Constitutional  Government  377 


all  resolutions  shall  be  taken  by  absolute  majority  of  the  members 
present. 

In  case  of  a  tie  the  voice  of  the  president  shall  decide. 

Art.  52.  All  petitions  regarding  private  interests,  presented  to 
either  of  the  Houses,  shall  be  rejected,  if  the  references  asked 
for  show  that  the  petitioner  did  not  address,  in  the  first  place, 
the  public  functionaries  who  have  this  in  charge  or  the  authority 
that  takes  the  place  of  these  functionaries. 

Art.  53.  The  initiative  on  the  proposition  of  a  law  or  modifi- 
cation of  an  existing  law  belongs  to  the  ministers,  senators  and 
deputies.  Every  new  law,  or  change  in  a  law  approved  by  one 
House  is  sent  to  the  other,  and  after  its  approval  by  the  second 
it  shall  be  sent  for  the  sanction  of  H.  I.  M.  the  Sultan. 

Art.  54.  The  projects  of  law  shall  be  first  submitted  to  the 
discussion  and  deliberation  of  the  House  of  Deputies  and  Senate ; 
but  they  shall  not  go  into  effect,  until  after  being  approved  by 
both  Houses  they  shall  be  sanctioned  by  imperial  decree.  All 
laws  presented  to  the  sovereign  must  be  sanctioned  inside  of  two 
months  or  sent  back  to  be  submitted  to  a  second  deliberation. 
The  law  sent  back  before  parliament  for  a  second  deliberation 
must  receive  there  the  majority  of  two  thirds.  A  law  that  has 
been  declared  urgent,  shall  be  sanctioned  or  returned  to  Parlia- 
ment inside  of  ten  days. 

Art.  55.  A  project  of  law  shall  not  be  considered  as  adopted 
if  it  is  not  voted  successively  by  the  House  of  Deputies  and 
Senate,  with  a  majority  of  votes,  each  article  separately,  and  if 
the  whole  of  the  project  has  not  received  the  majority  of  votes 
of  each  House. 

Art.  56.  With  the  exception  of  the  Ministers,  their  delegates 
and  functionaries  who  have  been  called  by  special  invitation,  no 
one  shall  be  presented  in  either  House,  nor  allowed  to  make  any 
communication  whatsoever,  no  matter  if  he  comes  in  his  own 
name  or  representting  a  group  of  persons. 

Art.  57.  The  deliberations  of  the  Houses  shall  take  place  in 
the  Turkish  language. 

The  projects  shall  be  printed  and  distributed  the  day  before  it 
is  discussed. 

Art.  58.  The  votes  shall  be  given :  by  personal  call ;  by  out- 
ward signs  of  manifestation  or  by  a  secret  method. 

The  secret  vote  shall  be  submitted  to  the  decision  of  the  House 
by  majority  of  the  members  present. 

Art.  59.  The  internal  police  power  of  each  House  is  exer- 
cised by  its  president. 


378  Constitutional  Government 


THE   SENATE. 

Art.  60.  The  president  and  members  of  the  Senate  shall  be 
nominated  directly  by  his  Majesty  the  Sultan. 

The  number  of  Senators  cannot  exceed  the  third  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  House  of  Deputies. 

Art.  61.  The  following  specifications  are  needed  in  order  to 
be  nominated  Senator: 

To  have  become  by  his  acts  worthy  of  public  confidence,  or 

To  have  rendered  good  service  to  the  State. 

To  be  at  least  forty  years  old. 

Art.  62.     The  Senators  shall  be  named  for  life. 

The  dignity  of  Senator  may  be  conferred  upon  persons  in 
reserve,  who  have  exercised  the  functions  of  minister,  governor 
general  (vali),  commandant  of  the  army  corps,  cazasker  (su- 
preme judge),  ambassador  or  plenipotentiary  minister,  patriarch, 
khakhambachi  (grand  rabbi),  upon  the  generals  of  division  of 
the  land  and  naval  forces,  and  in  general  upon  persons  who  unite 
all  the  conditions  required. 

The  members  of  Senate  called  to  take  another  post,  shall  lose 
their  quality  of  Senators. 

Art.  63.  The  remuneration  of  a  Senator  shall  be  fixed  at  the 
sum  of  ten  thousand  piasters  a  month. 

The  Senator  who  receives  from  the  Treasury  a  salary  or  re- 
muneration from  another  title,  shall  only  have  the  right  to  the 
complement  if  the  sum  received  is  under  ten  thousand  piasters. 
If  this  amount  is  equal  or  superior  to  the  salary  of  Senator  he 
shall  continue  to  receive  same. 

Art.  64.  The  Senate  examines  the  projects  of  law  or  budget 
sent  by  the  House  of  Deputies. 

If  during  the  examination  of  a  project  of  law  the  Senate  finds 
that  a  disposition  is  against  the  sovereign  rights  of  His  Majesty 
the  Sultan,  the  liberty,  the  Constitution,  the  territorial  integrity 
of  the  Empire,  interior  safety  of  the  country,  the  interest  and 
defense  of  the  country,  or  the  good  habits,  it  will  reject  it 
definitely  by  a  justified  vote,  or  return  it,  accompanied  by  its  ob- 
servations, to  the  House  of  Deputies,  asking  that  it  shall  be 
amended  or  changed  according  to  said  observations. 

The  projects  of  law  approved  by  the  Senate  shall  be  sent  to 
the  Grand  Vizier,  accompanied  by  its  approval. 

The  Senate  shall  examine  the  petitions  presented;  those  that 
are  considered  worthy  shall  be  sent  with  its  observations  to  the 
Grand  Vizier. 


Constitutional  Government  379 


THE  CHAMBER  OF  DEPUTIES. 

Art.  65.  The  number  of  Deputies  shall  be  fixed  at  the  rate 
of  one  per  each  fifty  thousand  male  citizens  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire. 

Art.  66.  The  election  shall  be  secret.  The  manner  of  electing 
shall  be  determined  by  a  special  law. 

Art.  67.  The  position  of  deputy  is  incompatible  with  the 
public  functions,  excepting  those  of  minister. 

All  other  public  functionaries,  elected  deputies,  are  free  to  ac- 
cept or  reject  the  post,  but,  in  case  they  accept,  they  must  resign 
their  functions  immediately. 

Art.  68.     The  following  are  not  eligible  for  deputies : 

1.  Those  who  do  not  belong  to  the  Ottoman  nationality; 

2.  Those  who  by  virtue  of  special  regulations  in  vigor,  enjoy 
the  immunities  attached  to  the  foreign  service  which  they  ex- 
ercise; 

3.  Those  who  do  not  know  Turkish; 

4.  Those  who  are  not  thirty  years  of  age; 

5.  Those  in  the  services  of  a  private  party; 

6.  Those  who  are  bankrupt  and  have  not  been  rehabilitated; 

7.  Those  who  have  been  notoriously  discredited  by  their  con- 
duct; 

8.  Those  who  have  been  judicially  interdicted  as  long  as  this 
prohibition  is  not  lifted; 

9.  Those  who  do  not  enjoy  their  civil  rights ; 

10.  Those  who  wish  to  belong  to  a  foreign  nation. 

After  the  expiration  of  the  first  period  of  four  years  one  of 
the  conditions  to  the  eligibility  as  deputy  shall  be  to  be  able  to 
read  Turkish  and  as  much  as  possible,  to  write  this  language. 

Art.  69.  The  general  elections  of  deputies  shall  take  place 
every  four  years. 

The  functions  of  each  deputy  shall  only  last  four  years,  but  he 
can  be  reelected. 

Art.  70.  The  general  elections  shall  take  place,  at  the  latest, 
four  months  before  November  1,  which  is  the  date  set  for  the 
meeting  of  the  House. 

Art.  71.  Each  member  of  the  House  of  Deputies  represents 
all  the  Ottoman  subjects,  and  not  the  party  that  nominated  him. 

Art.  72.  The  electors  must  choose  their  deputies  from  the  in- 
habitants of  the  province  to  which  they  belong. 

Art.  73.  In  case  of  dissolution  of  the  House  of  Deputies  by 
Imperial  Decree,  the  general  elections  must  take  place  in  time  for 
the  House  to  meet  again,  or  at  the  latest  within  six  months  of  its 
dissolution. 

Art.  74.     In  case  of  death,  judicial  interdict,  prolonged  ab- 


380  Constitutional  Government 


sence,  loss  of  post  as  deputy  resulting  from  a  sentence,  or  ac- 
ceptation of  public  functions,  the  vacancy  shall  be  filled,  as  per 
prescriptions  of  electoral  law,  as  soon  as  the  deputy  is  able  to 
take  his  post,  or  at  the  latest,  in  the  following  session. 

Art.  75.  The  deputy  elected  to  fill  a  vacancy  shall  only  exer- 
cise his  functions  until  the  following  general  elections. 

Art.  76.  The  treasury  shall  allow  each  deputy,  thirty  thou- 
sand piasters  per  session  and  traveling  expenses,  established  as 
per  dispositions  of  the  regulations  that  rule  the  civil  functionaries 
of  the  State,  calculated  on  a  basis  of  five  thousand  piasters 
monthly  salary.  He  shall  also  be  allowed  an  indemnity  of  five 
thousand  piasters  a  month  for  each  session  lasting  more  than  the 
fixed  period. 

Art.  yy.  At  each  session  the  House  of  Deputies  elects,  by 
majority,  one  president  and  two  vice-presidents  who  are  sub- 
mitted to  imperial  approval. 

Art.  78.  The  sessions  of  the  House  of  Deputies  shall  be 
public. 

The  House  has  a  right  to  meet  secretly  if  the  proposition  is 
made  by  the  Ministers,  or  the  President,  or  by  fifteen  members, 
and  if  this  proposition  is  voted  on  in  secret. 

Art.  79.  No  Deputy  shall  be  arrested  or  prosecuted,  during 
the  session,  unless  he  be  caught  in  the  act,  without  a  decision 
taken  by  the  House  giving  permission  for  the  prosecution. 

Art.  80.  The  House  of  Deputies  examines  in  detail  the  gen- 
eral expenses  of  the  State,  and  sums  the  total  in  the  presence  of 
the  ministers.  The  nature  and  amount  of  revenue,  that  must  be 
used  in  payment  of  same,  the  manner  of  distribution  and  collec- 
tion, must  also  be  determined  in  their  presence. 

TH£  JUDICIAL  POWER. 

Art.  81.  The  judges,  nominated  as  per  special  law  that  rules 
this  matter,  and  possessing  their  documents  of  investiture  (Berat), 
are  irremovable,  but  they  may  send  in  their  resignation. 

The  advancement  of  judges  in  their  hierarchic  order,  their 
transfer,  their  retirement,  their  recall  in  case  of  judicial  sentence, 
are  submitted  to  the  dispositions  of  the  same  law. 

This  law  determines  the  conditions  and  qualities  required  to 
exercise  the  functions  of  judge  and  other  judicial  functions. 

Art.  82.     The  audiences  in  all  courts  shall  be  public. 

The  publication  of  sentences  is  authorized. 

In  the  cases  specified  by  the  law,  the  court  may  hold  session 
behind  closed  doors. 

Art.  83.  Any  person  may,  in  his  own  defense,  make  use  of  the 
means  given  by  the  law,  before  the  court. 


Constitutional  Government  381 


Art.  84.  The  court  cannot,  under  any  pretext  whatsoever, 
refuse  to  judge  a  case  that  comes  under  its  jurisdiction. 

It  cannot  stop  or  adjourn  a  judgment  after  it  has  commenced 
the  examination  or  instruction,  unless  the  complainant  refuses 
to  continue  the  case. 

In  penal  cases,  public  action  shall  continue  according  to  law 
even  after  the  complainant  has  refused  to  continue. 

Art.  85.     Each  case  is  judged  by  the  competent  court. 

Litigation  between  private  persons  and  the  State  shall  be  taken 
up  in  the  ordinary  courts. 

Art.  86.  There  shall  not  be  allowed  any  interference  in  the 
courts. 

Art.  87.  The  affairs  concerning  the  Cheri  are  judged  by  the 
courts  of  the  Cheri;  the  judgment  of  civil  affairs  belongs  to  the 
civil  courts. 

Art.  88.  The  various  categories  of  the  courts,  their  com- 
petence, their  attributions  and  emoluments  of  the  judges  shall  be 
regulated  by  the  laws. 

Art.  89.  Outside  of  the  ordinary  courts,  no  extraordinary 
courts,  nor  commissions  to  judge  special  cases,  shall  be  instituted 
under  any  denomination  whatsoever. 

Arbitration  (Takkin),  and  the  nomination  of  a  muvella  (judge- 
delegate),  shall  be  permitted  in  the  manner  determined  by  law. 

Art.  90.  A  judge  cannot  hold  any  other  remunerative  State 
office. 

Art.  91.  Imperial  attorneys  shall  be  instituted,  charged  with 
conducting  the  public  cases. 

Their  attributions  and  hierarchy  shall  be  determined  by  law. 

the  SUPREME  COURT. 

Art.  92.  The  Supreme  Court  is  formed  of  thirty  members, 
ten  senators,  ten  counselors  of  State  and  ten  members  chosen 
from  the  presidents  and  members  of  the  Abrogate  Court  and 
Appellate  Court. 

All  the  members  shall  be  chosen  by  chance. 

The  Supreme  Court  meets,  whenever  necessary,  by  Imperial 
Decree,  and  holds  session  in  the  House  of  the  Senate. 

Their  attributions  consist  in  judging: 

The  ministers  ; 

The  president  and  the  members  of  the  Abrogate  Court; 

And  all  other  persons  accused  of  the  crime  of  lese-majeste,  or 
attempt  against  the  safety  of  the  State. 

Art.  93.  The  Supreme  Court  is  composed  of  two  Chambers : 
the  Chamber  of  accusation  and  the  Chamber  of  judgment. 

The   Chamber  of   accusation   is   composed  of  nine  members, 


382  Constitutional  Government 


chosen  by  chance  from  the  members  of  the  Supreme  Court ;  three 
senators,  three  counselors  of  State  and  three  members  of  the 
Abrogate  Court  and  Appellate  Court. 

Art.  94.  The  person  coming  before  the  Chamber  of  judg- 
ment shall  be  pronounced  upon  by  the  Chamber  of  accusation,  by 
a  majority  of  two  thirds  of  its  members. 

The  members  of  the  Chamber  of  accusation  cannot  take  part 
in  the  deliberations  of  the  Chamber  of  judgment. 

Art.  95.  The  Chamber  of  judgment  is  composed  of  twenty- 
one  members,  seven  senators,  seven  counselors  of  State  and  seven 
members  of  the  Abrogate  Court  and  the  Appellate  Court. 

The  judgment  of  the  cases  sent  by  the  Chamber  of  accusation 
shall  be  passed  by  a  majority  of  two  thirds  of  its  members. 

Its  judgments  cannot  be  appealed  nor  repealed. 


THE  FINANCES. 

Art.  96.  No  tax  reverting  to  the  State  shall  be  established, 
distributed  or  collected  unless  it  be  by  virtue  of  one  law. 

Art.  97.  The  budget  shall  contain  provisions  of  receipts  and 
expenses  of  the  State. 

The  duties  reverting  to  the  State,  shall  be  regulated  by  this 
law,  as  regard  their  imposition,  distribution  and  collection. 

Art.  98.  The  examination  and  vote  of  the  budget  by  the 
General  Assembly  shall  be  taken  by  articles. 

The  annexed  lists,  containing  the  receipts  and  expenses  in  de- 
tail, shall  be  divided  in  sections,  chapters  and  articles,  according 
to  the  model  determined  by  regulations. 

These  lists  will  voted  on  by  chapters. 

Art.  99.  The  project  of  law  of  the  budget  will  be  submitted 
to  the  house  of  Deputies  immediately  after  the  opening  session 
so  that  they  may  be  put  into  execution  at  the  beginning  of  the 
exercise  to  which  they  refer. 

Art.  100.  Any  expenses  not  mentioned  in  the  budget  cannot 
be  paid  by  State  funds,  unless  it  be  by  virtue  of  a  law. 

Art.  101.  In  case  of  urgent  necessity  caused  by  extraordinary 
circumstances,  the  Ministers  have  the  power,  during  the  absence 
of  the  General  Assembly,  to  create,  by  Imperial  Decree,  the  neces- 
sary resources  and  cover  an  expense  not  mentioned  in  the  budget, 
upon  the  condition  that  at  the  opening  of  the  first  session  of  the 
General  Assembly,  it  must  be  brought  up  for  a  vote  as  a  project 
of  law. 

Art.  102.  The  budget  is  voted  for  a  year ;  it  shall  only  be  in 
force  during  the  year  to  which  it  refers. 

If  at  any  time,  by   force  of  exceptional  circumstances,  the 


Constitutional  Government  383 


House  of  Deputies  is  dissolved  before  having  voted  the  budget, 
the  Ministers  may,  by  a  decision  taken  per  Imperial  Decree,  use 
the  budget  of  the  preceding  year  until  the  following  session.  The 
provisional  use  of  this  budget  cannot  extend  over  one  year. 

Art.  103.  The  final  law  regulating  the  budget,  indicates  the 
total  receipts  and  payments  made  on  the  revenues  and  the  ex- 
penses of  the  year  to  which  it  refers. 

Its  form  and  divisions  must  be  the  same  as  the  budget. 

Art.  104.  The  final  project  of  law  regulating  this,  must  be 
submitted  to  the  House  of  Deputies,  at  the  latest,  inside  of  four 
years,  counting  from  the  end  of  the  year  in  which  it  was  used. 

Art.  105.  A  Court  of  Accounts  shall  be  instituted,  charged 
with  the  examination  of  the  operations  of  those  responsible  for 
the  finances,  and  the  annual  accounts  of  the  various  ministerial 
departments. 

This  court  will  send  every  year  to  the  House  of  Deputies  a 
special  report  containing  the  results  of  its  work  and  its  observa- 
tions. 

At  the  end  of  every  third  month  this  court  will  present  to  His 
Majesty  the  Sultan,  through  the  Grand  Vizier,  a  report  of  the 
financial  situation. 

Art.  106.  The  Court  of  Accounts  shall  be  composed  of  twelve 
members,  who  are  nominated  for  life  by  Imperial  Decree. 

None  of  them  shall  be  deposed  unless  a  justified  reason  for 
this  action  is  approved  by  the  House  of  Deputies,  by  a  majority 
vote. 

Art.  107.  The  conditions  and  qualities  asked  of  the  members 
of  the  Court  of  Accounts,  the  detail  of  their  attributions,  the 
rules  used  in  case  of  resignation,  the  replacement,  advancement 
and  retirement,  as  well  as  the  organization  of  the  bureaux  of  the 
Court,  shall  be  determined  by  special  law. 


PROVINCIAL  ADMINISTRATION. 

Art.  108.  The  Administration  of  the  Provinces  shall  have  for 
basis  the  principle  of  decentralization. 

The  details  of  this  organization  shall  be  determined  by  a  law. 

Art.  109.  A  special  law  on  a  larger  basis  will  regulate  the 
election  of  the  Provincial  Administrative  Councils  (vilayet),  the 
district  (sandjack),  and  canton  (kaza),  as  well  as  the  General 
Council,  and  these  shall  meet  annually  at  the  capital  of  each 
province. 

Art.  no.  The  attributions  of  the  General  Provincial  Council 
shall  be  determined  by  the  same  special  law,  and  they  are  as 
follows : 


384  Constitutional  Government 


The  faculty  of  deciding  on  cases  of  public  utility,  as  the  estab- 
lishing of  communications,  the  organization  of  agricultural  credit 
banks,  the  development  of  industry,  commerce  and  agriculture 
and  the  propagation  of  public  instruction. 

The  right  to  complain  to  the  competent  authorities  to  obtain 
the  correction  of  acts  committed  against  the  laws  and  regulations 
whether  it  be  regarding  the  distribution  or  collection  of  the  taxes 
or  in  any  other  matter. 

Art.  in.  In  each  kaza  there  shall  be  a  Council  representing 
each  of  the  various  communities.  This  Council  shall  be  in 
charge : 

1.  Of  the  administration  of  the  immovable  revenues  or  funds 
vakoufs  (religious  institutions),  whose  special  purpose  shall  be 
determined  by  the  dispositions  expressed  by  the  founders  or  by 
custom  ; 

2.  The  employment  of  funds  or  goods  affected  by  testa- 
mentary disposition,  for  acts  of  charity  or  benefaction; 

3.  The  administration  of  orphan  funds,  according  to  special 
regulations  that  rule  the  matter. 

Each  Council  shall  be  composed  of  members  elected  by  the 
community  they  represent,  as  per  special  regulations  to  be  estab- 
lished. 

These  Councils  shall  take  the  place  of  the  local  authorities  and 
the  General  Provincial  Councils. 

Art.  112.  The  municipal  affairs  shall  be  administrated  at 
Constantinople  and  in  the  provinces  by  the  Municipal  Councils 
elected. 

The  organization  of  the  Municipal  Councils,  their  attributions 
and  the  manner  of  electing  their  members  shall  be  determined 
by  a  special  law. 


VARIOUS  DISPOSITIONS. 

Art.  113.  In  case  of  confirmation  of  facts,  or  indications  of 
a  nature  that  predict  trouble  in  any  part  of  the  Imperial  territory, 
the  Imperial  Government  has  the  right  to  proclaim  martial  law. 

Martial  law  shall  result  in  the  temporary  suspension  of  the 
civil  laws. 

The  manner  of  administration  of  the  localities  submitted  to 
martial  law  shall  be  regulated  by  a  special  law. 

Art.  114.  Primary  instruction  is  compulsory  for  all  Ottomans. 
The  details  of  same  shall  be  regulated  by  a  special  law. 

Art.  115.  Any  disposition  given  under  this  Constitution,  shall 
not,  under  any  pretext  whatsoever,  be  suspended  or  abandoned. 

Art.   116.     In  case  of  necessity,  duly  stated,  the  Constitution 


Constitutional  Government  385 


may  be  changed  in  some  of  its  dispositions.  This  change  shall  be 
under  the  following  conditions: 

All  propositions  for  changes,  whether  presented  by  the  min- 
istry, or  by  either  House,  must  first  be  submitted  to  the  discussion 
of  the  House  of  Deputies ; 

If  the  proposition  is  approved  by  a  majority  of  two  thirds  of 
the  members  of  this  House,  it  shall  then  be  sent  to  the  Senate ; 

In  case  that  the  Senate  adopts  the  change  proposed,  by  a  two- 
thirds  majority  of  Senators,  it  shall  then  be  sent  for  the  approval 
of  His  Majesty  the  Sultan; 

If  it  is  sanctioned  by  Imperial  Decree,  it  shall  then  go  in  force 
as  a  law; 

Any  disposition  of  the  Constitution  which  is  the  object  of  a 
proposition  for  change,  is  in  vigor,  until  this  proposition  after 
being  approved  by  both  Houses  is  sanctioned  by  Imperial  Decree. 

Art.  117.     The  interpretation  of  the  laws  belongs: 

To  the  Abrogate  Court  on  civil  and  penal  laws ; 

To  the  Council  of  State  on  administrative  laws ; 

To  the  Senate  on  the  dispositions  of  the  Constitution. 

Art.  118.  The  laws,  regulations  and  customs  actually  in  vigor 
shall  continue  to  be  used  as  long  as  they  are  not  repealed  or 
changed  by  other  laws  and  regulations.  Religious,  civil  and 
moral  prescriptions  according  to  the  need  of  humanity  and  time 
shall  be  adopted  as  basis  in  the  making  of  a  law. 


Three  other  articles  have  been  added  to  the  constitutional  law, 
having  received  the  Nos.  119,  120  and  121,  awaiting  the  time 
when  they  will  be  placed  in  their  special  chapter  at  the  moment 
of  a  final  examination  of  the  constitutional  revision.  These  three 
articles  are  the  following: 

Art.  119.  The  documents  and  letters  sent  through  the  mails 
cannot  be  opened  without  an  order  from  the  judge  of  instruction 
or  the  court. 

Art.  120.  The  Ottomans  have  the  right  of  holding  meetings 
upon  the  condition  that  they  respect  the  dispositions  of  the  law 
adhoc.  The  forming  of  Societies  contrary  to  good  habits,  or 
having  for  purpose  an  attempt  against  the  territorial  integrity 
of  the  Ottoman  Empire,  to  change  the  form  of  Constitution  and 
government,  to  act  against  the  dispositions  of  the  constitutional 
law  and  to  politically  separate  the  various  Ottoman  elements,  is 
absolutely  prohibited.  The  forming  of  Secret  Societies  is  also 
absolutely  prohibited. 

Art.  121.  The  discussions  of  the  Senate  are  public,  but  upon 
a  move  of  the  ministers  or  five  senators  to  discuss  any  important 
question  in  secret,  the  hall  shall  be  evacuated  with  the  exception 


386  Constitutional  Government 

of  the  members  of  the  Assembly,  and  the  proposition  shall  be 
accepted  or  rejected  by  majority  of  votes. 

The  5  Chaban  1327  (August  8,  1325). 

NEW  ZEALAND. 

The  Dutch  navigator  Tasman  discovered  New  Zealand  in 
1642,  and  in  1769  Captain  Cook  took  possession  of  the  country 
for  George  III.  The  first  settlement  of  the  Europeans  was 
made  in  18 14,  but  no  colonization  took  place  until  1839.  In 
1 84 1  New  Zealand  was  by  letters  patent  erected  into  a  separate 
colony  distinct  from  New  South  Wales. 

(From  New  Zealand  Official  Year  Book.) 

THE   MAORIS. 

Prior  to  the  colonization  of  New  Zealand  by  Europeans,  the 
earliest  navigators  and  explorers  found  a  race  of  people  already 
inhabiting  both  Islands.  Papers  written  in  1874  by  Mr.  (after- 
wards Sir)  William  Fox  and  Sir  Donald  McLean  (then  Native 
Minister)  state  that  at  what  time  the  discovery  of  these  Islands 
was  made  by  the  Maoris,  or  from  what  place  they  came,  are 
matters  of  tradition  only,  and  that  much  has  been  lost  in  the 
obscurity  enveloping  the  history  of  a  people  without  letters.  Nor 
is  there  anything  on  record  respecting  the  origin  of  the  Maori 
people  themselves,  byond  the  general  tradition  of  the  Polynesian 
race,  which  seems  to  show  a  series  of  successive  migrations  from 
west  to  east,  probably  by  way  of  Malaysia  to  the  Pacific.  Little 
more  can  now  be  gathered  from  their  traditions  than  that  they 
were  immigrants  and  that  they  probably  found  inhabitants  on 
the  east  coast  of  the  North  Island  belonging  to  the  same  race  as 
themselves — the  descendants  of  a  prior  migration,  whose  history- 
is  lost.  The  tradition  runs  that,  generations  ago,  the  Maoris 
dwelt  in  a  country  named  Hawaiki,  and  that  one  of  their  chiefs, 
after  a  long  voyage,  reached  the  northern  island  of  New  Zealand. 
Returning  to  his  home  with  a  flattering  description  of  the  coun- 
try he  had  discovered,  this  chief,  it  is  said,  persuaded  a  number 
of  his  kinsfolk  and  friends,  who  were  much  harassed  by  war.  to 
set  out  with  a  fleet  of  double  canoes  for  the  new  land.  The 
names  of  most  of  the  canoes  are  still  remembered,  and  each  tribe 
agrees  in  its  account  of  the  doings  of  the  people  of  the  principal 
canoes  after  their  arrival  in  New  Zealand ;  and  from  these  tradi- 
tional accounts  the  descent  of  the  numerous  tribes  has  been 


Constitutional  Government  387 


traced.  Calculations,  based  on  the  genealogical  staves  kept  by 
the  tohungas,  or  priests,  and  on  the  well-authenticated  traditions 
of  the  people,  indicate  that  about  twenty-one  generations  have 
passed  since  the  migration,  which  may  therefore  be  assumed  to 
have  taken  place  about  five  hundred  and  twenty-five  years  ago. 
The  position  of  the  legendary  Hawaiki  is  unknown,  but  many 
places  in  the  South  Seas  have  been  thus  named  in  memory  of 
the  motherland.  The  Maoris  speak  a  very  pure  dialect  of  the 
Polynesian  language,  the  common  tongue,  with  more  or  less  vari- 
ation, in  all  the  eastern  Pacific  islands.  When  Captain  Cook 
first  visited  New  Zealand  he  availed  himself  of  the  services  of 
a  Native  from  Tahiti,  whose  speech  was  easily  understood  by  the 
Maoris.  In  this  way  much  information  respecting  the  early  his- 
tory of  the  country  and  its  inhabitants  was  obtained  which  could 
not  have  otherwise  been  had. 

For  results  of  recent  researches  as  to  probable  origin  of  the 
Maoris,  see  Year-book  for  1901. 


CONSTITUTION. 

British  sovereignty  was  proclaimed  over  New  Zealand  in  Janu- 
ary, 1840,  and  the  country  became  a  dependency  of  New  South 
Wales  until  the  3rd  May,  1841,  when  it  was  made  a  separate 
colony.  The  seat  of  Government  was  at  Auckland,  and  the  Exec- 
utive included  the  Governor,  and  three  gentlemen  holding  office 
as  Colonial  Secretary,  Attorney-General,  and  Colonial  Treasurer. 

The  successors  of  these  gentlemen,  appointed  in  August,  1841, 
May,  1842,  and  January,  1844,  respectively,  continued  in  office 
until  the  establishment  of  Responsible  Government  on  the  7th 
of  May,  1856.  Only  one  of  them — Mr.  Swainson,  the  Attorney- 
General — sat  as  a  member  of  the  first  General  Assembly,  opened 
on  the  27th  May,  1854.  During  the  session  of  that  year  there 
were  associated  with  the  permanent  members  of  the  Executive 
Council  certain  members  of  the  General  Assembly.  These  lat- 
ter held  no  portofolios. 

The  Government  of  the  colony  was  at  first  vested  in  the  Gov- 
ernor, who  was  responsible  only  to  the  Crown;  but  in  1852  an 
Act  granting  representative  institutions  to  the  colony  was  passed 
by  the  Imperial  Legislature.  Under  it  the  constitution  of  a  Gen- 
eral Assembly  for  the  whole  colony  was  provided  for,  to  consist 
of  a  Legislative  Council,  the  members  of  which  were  to  be  nomi- 
nated by  the  Governor,  and  of  an  elective  House  of  Represen- 
tatives. The  first  session  of  the  General  Assembly  was  opened 
on  the  27th  May,  1854,  but  the  members  of  the  Executive  were 
not  responsible  to  Parliament.    The  first  Ministers  under  a  sys- 


388  Constitutional  Government 


tern  of  Responsible  Government  were  appointed  in  the  year  1856. 
By  the  Act  of  1852  the  colony  was  divided  into  six  provinces, 
each  to  be  presided  over  by  an  elective  Superintendent,  and  to 
have  an  elective  Provincial  Council,  empowered  to  legislate,  ex- 
cept on  certain  specified  subjects.  The  franchise  amounted  prac- 
tically to  household  suffrage.  In  each  case  the  election  was  for 
four  years,  but  a  dissolution  of  the  Provincial  Council  by  the 
Governor  could  take  place  at  any  time,  necessitating  a  fresh 
election  both  of  the  Council  and  of  the  Superintendent.  The 
Superintendent  was  chosen  by  the  whole  body  of  electors  of  the 
province;  each  member  of  the  Provincial  Council  by  the  electors 
of  a  district.  The  Provincial  Governments,  afterwards  increased 
to  nine,  remained  as  integral  parts  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
colony  until  the  1st  November,  1876,  when  they  were  abolished 
by  an  Act  of  the  General  Assembly,  that  body  having  been 
vested  with  the  power  of  altering  the  Constitution  Act.  On  the 
same  day  an  Act  of  the  General  Assembly  which  subdivided  the 
colony  (exclusive  of  the  areas  included  within  municipalities) 
into  counties,  and  established  a  system  of  local  county  govern- 
ment, came  into  force. 

By  resolutions  passed  by  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the 
1 2th  July,  1907,  and  by  the  Legislative  Council  on  the  16th  July, 
1907,  addresses  were  forwarded  to  His  Majesty  the  King  respect- 
fully requesting  that  the  necessary  steps  might  be  taken  to  change 
the  designation  of  New  Zealand  from  the  Colony  of  New  Zeal- 
and to  the  Dominion  of  New  Zealand ;  and  His  Majesty  the  King 
by  Order  in  Council  dated  9th  September,  1907,  and  by  Procla- 
mation issued  10th  September,  1907,  was  graciously  pleased  to 
change  the  style  and  designation  of  the  Colony  of  New  Zealand 
to  "The  Dominion  of  New  Zealand;"  such  change  taking  effect 
from  Thursday,  the  26th  day  of  September,  1907. 


GOVERNMENT. 

The  Governor  is  appointed  by  the  King.  His  salary  is  £5,000 
a  year,  with  an  annual  allowance  of  £1,500  on  account  of  his 
establishment,  and  of  £500  for  traveling  expenses,  provided  by 
the  Dominion. 

Members  of  the  Legislative  Council  hold  their  seats  under  writs 
of  summons  from  the  Governor.  Till  the  year  1891  the  appoint- 
ments were  for  life;  but  in  September  of  that  year  an  Act  was 
passed  making  appointments  after  that  time  tenable  for  seven 
years  only,  though  Councillors  may  be  reappointed.  In  either 
case  seats  may  be  vacated  by  resignation  or  extended  absence. 
Two  members  of  the  Council  are  aboriginal  Native  chiefs. 


Constitutional  Government  389 


The  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  (now  desig- 
nated M.  P.)  are  elected  for  three  years  from  the  time  of  each 
general  election;  but  at  any  time  a  dissolution  of  Parliament  by 
the  Governor  may  render  a  general  election  necessary.  Four  of 
the  members  are  representatives  of  Native  constituencies.  For 
the  purposes  of  European  representation  the  Dominion  is  divided 
into  seventy-six  electoral  districts,  each  returning  one  member. 
The  full  number  of  members  composing  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives is  thus  eighty.  Members  of  the  House  of  Represent- 
atives are  chosen  by  the  voters  of  the  electors  in  every  electoral 
district  appointed  for  that  purpose. 

In  1889  an  amendment  of  the  Representation  Act  was  passed, 
which  contained  a  provision  prohibiting  any  elector  from  giving 
his  vote  in  respect  of  more  than  one  electorate  at  any  election. 
In  1893  women  of  both  races  were  granted  by  law  the  right  to 
vote  at  the  elections  for  members  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. The  qualification  for  registration  is  the  same  for  both 
sexes.  No  person  is  entitled  to  be  registered  on  more  than  one 
electoral  roll  within  the  Dominion.  Women  are  not  qualified 
to  be  elected  as  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  Every 
man  registered  as  an  elector,  and  not  specially  excepted  by  the 
Legislature  Act  now  in  force,  is  qualified  to  be  elected  a  member 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  for  any  electoral  district.  For 
European  representation  every  adult  person,  if  resident  one  year 
in  the  Dominion  and  three  months  in  one  electoral  district,  can 
be  registered  as  an  elector.  Freehold  property  of  the  value  of 
£25  held  for  six  months  preceding  the  day  of  registration  until 
1896  entitled  a  man  or  woman  to  register,  if  not  previously  regist- 
ered under  the  residential  qualification;  but  in  1896  the  property 
qualification  was  abolished  (except  in  case  of  existing  registra- 
tion), and  residence  alone  now  entitles  a  man  or  woman  to  have 
his  or  her  name  placed  upon  an  electoral  roll.  For  Maori  repre- 
sentation every  adult  Maori  resident  in  any  Maori  electoral  dis- 
trict (of  which  there  are  four  only  in  the  Dominion)  can  vote. 
Registration  is  not  required  in  Native  districts.  (The  above  pro- 
visions are  now  incorporated  in  the  Legislature  Act,  1908,  which 
consolidates  the  electoral  laws.)  The  electoral  laws  are  the  sub- 
ject of  special  comment  further  on  in  this  work. 


THE    SEAT   OF    GOVERNMENT. 

Up  to  the  year  1865  the  seat  of  Government  of  New  Zealand 
was  at  Auckland.  Several  attempts  were  made  by  members  of 
Parliament,  by  motions  in  the  Legislative  Council  and  House  of 
Representatives,  to  have  it  removed  to  some  more  central  place; 


390  Constitutional  Government 


but  it  was  not  until  November,  1863,  that  Mr.  Domett  (the  then 
ex-Premier)  was  successful  in  carrying  resolutions  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  that  steps  should  be  taken  for  appointing  some 
place  in  Cook  Strait  as  the  permanent  seat  of  Government.  The 
resolutions  adopted  were:  "(i.)  That  it  has  become  necessary 
that  the  seat  of  Government  in  the  colony  should  be  transferred 
to  some  suitable  locality  in  Cook  Strait.  (2.)  That,  in  order  to 
promote  the  accomplishment  of  this  object,  it  is  desirable  that  the 
selection  of  the  particular  site  in  Cook  Strait  should  be  left  to 
the  arbitrament  of  an  impartial  tribunal.  (3.)  That,  with  this 
view,  a  Bill  should  be  introduced  to  give  effect  to  the  above  reso- 
lutions." On  the  25th  November  an  address  was  presented  to 
the  Governor,  Sir  George  Grey,  K.  C.  V.,  by  the  Commons  of 
New  Zealand,  requesting  that  the  Governors  of  the  Colonies  of 
New  South  Wales,  Victoria,  and  Tasmania,  might  each  be  asked 
to  appoint  one  Commissioner  for  the  purpose  of  determining  the 
best  site  in  Cook  Strait.  Accordingly,  the  Hon.  Joseph  Docker, 
M.  L.  C,  New  South  Wales;  the  Hon.  Sir  Francis  Murphy, 
Speaker  of  the  Legislative  Council,  Victoria;  and  R.  C.  Gunn, 
Esq.,  Tasmania,  were  appointed  Commissioners. 

These  gentlemen,  having  made  a  personal  inspection  of  all 
suitable  places,  arrived  at  the  unanimous  decision  "that  Welling- 
ton, in  Port  Nicholson,  was  the  site  upon  the  shores  of  Cook 
Strait  which  presented  the  greatest  advantages  for  the  admin- 
istration of  the  government  of  the  colony." 

The  seat  of  Government  was,  therefore,  in  accordance  with 
the  recommendations  of  the  Commissioners,  removed  to  Welling- 
ton in  February,  1865. 


THE   DOMINION. 

New  Zealand,  formerly  a  colony,  has,  since  September,  1907, 
by  Royal  Proclamation,  been  granted  the  designation  of  "Domin- 
ion," and  is  referred  to  accordingly  in  this  book.  It  consists  of 
three  main  islands,  with  several  groups  of  smaller  islands  lying 
at  some  distance  from  the  principal  group.  The  main  islands, 
known  as  the  North,  the  South,  and  Stewart  Islands,  have  a 
coast-line  4,330  miles  in  length:  North  Island,  2,200  miles; 
South  Island,  2,000  miles;  and  Stewart  Island,  130  miles.  Other 
islands  included  within  the  Dominion  are  the  Chatham,  Auck- 
land, Campbell,  Three  Kings,  Antipodes,  Bounty,  and  Kerma- 
dee  Islands.     The  annexation  of  the  Cook  and  sundry  other 


Constitutional  Government  391 


islands  has  necessitated  an  enlargement  of  the  boundaries  of  the 
Dominion,  which  will  be  specially  treated  of  further  on. 

New  Zealand  is  mountainous  in  many  parts,  but  has,  never- 
theless, large  plains  in  both  North  and  South  Islands.  In  the 
North  Island,  which  is  highly  volcanic,  is  situated  the  famous 
Thermal-Springs  District,  of  which  a  special  account  will  be 
given.  The  South  Island  is  remarkable  for  its  lofty  mountains, 
with  their  magnificent  glaciers,  and  for  the  deep  sounds  or  fiords 
on  the  western  coast. 

New  Zealand  is  firstly  a  pastoral  and  secondary  an  agricutural 
country.  Sown  grasses  are  grown  almost  everywhere,  the  extent 
of  land  laid  down  being  more  than  thirteen  millions  and  a  half 
of  acres.  The  soil  is  admirably  adapted  for  receiving  these 
grasses,  and,  after  the  bush  has  been  burnt  off,  is  mostly  sown 
over  without  previous  ploughing.  In  the  South  Island  a  large 
area  is  covered  with  native  grasses,  all  used  for  grazing  purposes. 
The  large  extent  of  good  grazing-land  has  made  the  Dominion 
a  great  wool,  meat,  and  dairy-produce  country;  while  its  agri- 
cultural capabilities  are,  speaking  generally,  very  considerable. 
The  abundance  of  water  and  the  quantity  of  valuable  timber  are 
other  natural  advntges. 

New  Zealand  is,  besides,  a  mining  country.  Large  deposits  of 
coal  are  met  with,  chiefly  on  the  west  coast  of  the  South  Island. 
Gold,  alluvial  and  in  quartz,  is  found  in  both  Islands,  the  yield 
having  been  over  seventy-nine  millions  in  value  to  the  present 
time.  Full  statistical  information  on  this  subject  is  given  further 
on,  compiled  up  to  the  latest  dates. 

BOUNDARIES  AND  AREA. 

The  Proclamation  of  Captain  Hobson  on  the  30th  January, 
1840,  gave  as  the  boundaries  of  what  was  then  the  colony  the 
following  degrees  of  latitude  and  longitude:  On  the  north,  340 
30'  S.  lat. ;  on  the  south,  470  10'  S.  lat.;  on  the  east,  1790  o'  E. 
long.;  on  the  west,  1660  5'  E.  long.  These  limits  excluded  small 
portions  of  the  extreme  north  of  the  North  Island  and  of  the 
extreme  south  of  Stewart  Island. 

In  April,  1842,  by  Royal  Letters  Patent,  and  again  by  the 
Imperial  Act  26  and  27  Vict.,  c.  23  (1863),  the  boundaries  were 
altered  so  as  to  extend  from  33  °  to  53  °  of  south  latitude  and 
from  1620  of  east  longitude  to  1730  of  west  longitude.  By  Proc- 
lamation bearing  date  the  21st  July,  1887,  tne  Kermadec  Islands, 
lying  between  the  29th  and  32nd  degrees  of  south  latitude  and 
the  177th  and  180th  degrees  of  west  longitude,  were  declared  to 
be  annexed  to  and  to  become  part  of  the  then  Colony  of  New 
Zealand. 


392  Constitutional  Government 


By  Proclamation  bearing  date  the  ioth  June,  1901,  the  Cook 
Group  of  islands,  and  all  the  other  islands  and  territories  situate 
within  the  boundary-lines  mentioned  in  the  following  Schedule, 
were  included : — 

A  line  commencing  at  a  point  at  the  intersection  of  the  twenty- 
third  degree  of  south  latitude  and  the  one  hundred  and  fifty-sixth 
degree  of  longitude  west  of  Greenwich,  and  proceeding  due  north 
to  the  point  of  intersection  of  the  eighth  degree  of  south  latitude 
and  the  one  hundred  and  fifty-sixth  degree  of  longitude  west  of 
Greenwich;  thence  due  west  to  the  point  of  intersection  of  the 
eighth  degree  of  south  latitude  and  the  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
seventh  degree  of  longitude  west  of  Greenwich ;  thence  due  south 
to  the  point  of  intersection  of  the  seventeenth  degree  of  south 
latitude  and  the  one  hundred  and  sixty-seventh  degree  of  longi- 
tude west  of  Greenwich;  thence  due  west  to  the  point  of  inter- 
section of  the  seventeenth  degree  of  south  latitude  and  the  one 
hundred  and  seventieth  degree  of  longitude  west  of  Greenwich; 
thence  due  south  to  the  point  of  intersection  of  the  twenty-third 
degree  of  south  latitude  and  the  one  hundred  and  seventieth  de- 
gree of  longitude  west  of  Greenwich ;  and  thence  due  east  to  the 
point  of  intersection  of  the  twenty-third  degree  of  south  latitude 
and  the  one  hundred  and  fifty-sixth  degree  of  longitude  west  of 
Greenwich. 

The  following  now  constitutes  the  Dominion  of  New  Zea- 
land : — 

1.  The  island  commonly  known  as  the  North  Island,  with  its 
adjacent  islets,  having  an  aggregate  area  of  44,673  square  miles, 
or  28,590,720  acres. 

2.  The  island  known  as  the  South  Island,  with  adjacent  islets, 
having  an  aggregate  area  of  57,823  square  miles,  or  37,070,720 
acres. 

3.  Stewart  Island,  and  adjacent  islets,  having  an  area  of  665 
square  miles,  or  425,390  acres. 

4.  The  Chatham  Islands,  situate  536  miles  eastward  of  Lyttel- 
ton  in  the  South  Island,  with  an  area  of  375  square  miles,  or 
239,920  acres. 

5.  The  Auckland  Islands,  about  200  miles  south  of  Stewart 
Island,  extending  about  30  miles  from  north  to  south,  and  nearly 
15  from  east  to  west,  the  area  being  210,650  acres. 

6.  Campbell  Island,  in  latitude  52 °  33'  26"  south,  and  longi- 
tude 1690  8'  41"  west,  about  30  miles  in  circumference,  with  an 
area  of  45,440  acres. 


Constitutional  Government  393 


Area  of  the  States  of  Australia. 

The  areas  of  the  several  Australian  States,  as  stated  by  differ- 
ent authorities,  vary  considerably.  The  total  area  of  the  Austra- 
lian Continent  is  given  as  2,944,628  square  miles,  according  to  a 
computation  made  by  the  late  Surveyor-General  of  Victoria,  Mr. 
J.  A.  Skene,  from  a  map  of  Continental  Australia  compiled  and 
engraved  under  his  direction;  but  the  following  areas  are  taken 
from  latest  official  records: — 


Queensland 

New    South   Wales 

Victoria 

South  Australia 

Western  Australia 


Square  Miles. 
670,500 
310.372 
87,884 
903,690 
975,920 


Total,  Continent  of  Australia    . .      2,948,366 
Tasmania         . .  . .  . .  26,215 


Total,  Commonwealth  of  Australia  2,974,581 
The  size  of  these  States  (with  New  Zealand)  may  be  better 
realized  by  comparison  of  their  areas  with  those  of  European 
countries.  The  areas  of  the  following  countries — Austria-Hun- 
gary, Germany,  France,  Belgium,  Holland,  Denmark,  Sweden  and 
Norway,  Portugal,  Spain,  Italy  (including  Sardinia  and  Sicily), 
Switzerland,  Greece,  Roumania,  Bulgaria,  Servia,  Eastern  Rou- 
melia,  and  Turkey  in  Europe — containing  on  the  whole  rather 
less  than  1,600,000  square  miles,  amount  to  little  more  than  half 
the  extent  of  the  Australian  Continent.  If  the  area  of  Russia 
in  Europe  be  added  to  those  of  the  other  countries  the  total  would 
be  about  one-seventh  larger  than  the  Australian  Continent,  and 
about  one-twelfth  larger  than  the  Australian  States,  with  New 
Zealand. 

Area  of  the  Dominion  of  New  Zealand. 

The  area  of  the  Dominion  of  New  Zealand  is  about  one-seventh 
less  than  the  area  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  the  South  Island 
of  New  Zealand  being  a  little  larger  than  the  combined  areas  of 
England  and  Wales. 

Area  in 
United  Kingdom.  Square  Miles. 

England   and   Wales      ..  ..  58,311 

Scotland  . .  . .  . .  30,463    , 

Ireland  ..  .,  ..  32,531 


Total         . .  . .  . .         121,305 


394  Constitutional  Government 


Area  in 

New  Zealand. 

Square  Miles 

North  Island 

44,673 

South  Island 

57,923 

Stewart  Island 

665 

Chatham   Islands 

375 

Other    Islands 

718 

Total  ..  ..  ..         104,354 

7.  The  Antipodes  Islands,  about  458  miles  in  a  south-easterly 
direction  from  Port  Chalmers,  in  the  South  Island.  These  are 
detached  rocky  islands,  and  extend  over  a  distance  of  between  4 
and  5  miles  from  north  to  south.    Area,  12,960  acres. 

8.  The  Bounty  Islands,  a  small  group  of  islets,  thirteen  in 
number,  lying  north  of  the  Antipodes  Islands,  and  about  415 
miles  in  an  east-south-easterly  direction  from  Port  Chalmers. 
Area,  3,300  acres. 

9.  The  Kermadec  Islands,  a  group  lying  about  614  miles  to 
the  north-east  of  Russell,  in  the  Bay  of  Islands.  Raoul,  pr  Sun- 
day Island,  the  largest  of  these,  is  about  20  miles  in  circuit.  The 
next  in  size  is  Macaulay  Island,  about  3  miles  round.  Area  of 
the  group,  8,208  acres. 

10.  Islands  forming  the  Cook  Group : — 

Rarotonga. — Distance   from  Auckland,   1,638  miles;   cir- 
cumference, 20  miles ;  height,  2,920  ft. 

Mangaia. — Distance  from  Rarotonga,  116  miles;  circum- 
ference, 30  miles;  height,  656  ft. 

Atiu. — Distance   from  Rarotonga,   116  miles;  circumfer- 
ence, 20  miles ;  height,  374  ft. 

Aitutaki. — Distance  from  Rarotonga,  146  miles;  circum- 
ference, 12  miles;  height,  366  ft. 

Mauke. — Distance   from   Rarotonga,    150  miles;   circum- 
ference, 6  miles ;  height,  about  60  ft. 

Mitiaro. — Distance  from  Rarotonga,   140  miles;  circum- 
ference 5  miles,  height,  about  50  ft. 

Takutea. — Distant  from  Rarotonga,  125  miles. 

The  Herveys  (Manuae  and  Aoutu). — Distant  from  Raro- 
tonga, 120  miles. 
Total  area  of  above  Group,  150  square  miles. 

11.  Islands  outside  the  Cook  Group: — 

Savage  or  Nine. — Distance  from  Rarotonga,  580  miles; 

circumference,  40  miles ;  height,  200   ft. ;  area,   about 

100  square  miles. 
Palmerston. — Distance    from   Rarotonga,    273   miles;   an 

atoll,  4  miles  by  2  miles. 


Constitutional  Government  395 


Penrhyn,  or  Tongareva. — Distance  735  miles  from  Raro- 

tonga;  an  atoll,  12  miles  by  7  miles. 
Humphrey,  or  Manahiki. — Distance  from  Rarotonga,  650 

miles;  an  atoll,  6  miles  by  5  miles. 
Rierson,   or   Rakaanga. — Distance    from   Rarotonga,   670 

miles;  an  atoll,  3  miles  by  3  miles. 
Danger,  or  Pukapuka. — Distance    from    Rarotonga,    700 

miles;  an  atoll,  3  miles  by  3  miles. 

Suwarrow. — Distance  from  Rarotonga,  530  miles ;  an  atoll. 

Total  area  of  islands  outside  the  Cook  Group,  130  square  miles. 

The  total  area  of  the  Dominion  is  thus  about  104,354  square 

miles,  of  which  the  aggregate  area  of  the  outlying  groups  of 

islands   that  are   practically   useless   for   settlement   amounts   to 

about  498  square  miles. 


ICELAND. 

The  Constitution  granted  in  1874  to  Iceland  upon  a  demand  of 
the  Althing  contains  an  article  which  reproduces  the  provisions 
of  Art.  95  of  the  Danish  Constitution  with  the  single  difference 
which  serves  to  simplify  a  process  still  further  that  the  Althing 
is  legally  dissolved  by  the  adoption  of  both  Houses  of  the  pro- 
posed amendment.  (Charles  Borgeaud,  1895,  Europe  and  Amer- 
ica. 

The  Constitution  was  granted  to  Iceland  by  Christian  IX., 
king  of  Denmark  in  1874.  The  King  visited  Iceland  in  August 
of  the  same  year  and  brought  the  constitution  with  him.  He 
was  received  with  much  respect  by  the  Icelanders  and  told  them 
he  "hoped  the  Constitution  he  brought  with  him  might  contrib- 
ute to  the  material  prosperity  of  the  Island  and  the  development 
of  the  people."  At  the  time  the  Constitution  was  granted  the 
population  of  Iceland  was  about  70,000. 

The  length  of  the  Island  is  300  miles  from  east  to  west  and 
the  greatest  breadth  200  miles.  The  area  is  estimated  at  39,200 
square  miles. 

THE   CONSTITUTION. 

The  Constitution  which,  as  the  King  declared,  he  "brought  with 
him,"  is  mainly  due  to  the  persistent  claims  and  representations 
of  Jon  Sigurdsson  at  Copenhagen.  Copies  of  it  were  furnished 
to  us ;  but  I  think  it  unnecessary  to  translate  every  clause  in 
detail,  and  will  here  only  give  a  brief  resume  of  its  most  im- 
portant features. 


396  Constitutional  Government 


The  document  is  divided  into  seven  parts,  or  chapters.  The 
first  of  these,  which  contains  thirteen  paragraphs,  deals  with  the 
relations  between  the  king  and  Danish  Government  on  one  side 
and  the  legislative  assembly,  or  Althing  on  the  other.  The  legis- 
lative power  with  the  King  alone,  and  the  judicial  power  with 
the  judges.  Iceland  has  no  voice  in  Danish  national  questions, 
since  it  is  not  represented  in  the  Rigsdag  at  Copenhagen ;  conse- 
quently it  bears  no  part  of  the  national  expenditures.  The  high- 
est power  in  Iceland  belongs  to  the  Governor,  who  is  appointed 
by  the  King.  Should  the  Althing  have  reason  to  complain  of 
the  Governor,  the  King  decides  in  each  particular  case.  (Al- 
though the  Minister  for  Iceland  is  declared  to  be  responsible 
for  his  acts,  the  King's  power  practically  neutralizes  this  clause.) 
The  Althing,  called  by  the  King,  sits  twice  a  year  at  Reikjavik, 
the  Capital,  but  only  for  six  weeks,  unless  prolonged  by  Royal 
consent.  A  special  session  may  be  called  for  at  the  King's  pleas- 
ure; the  latter  may  also  prorogue  the  Althing,  but  only  once  a 
year,  and  for  four  weeks  at  a  time.  The  King  has  power  to 
dissolve  the  Althing,  in  which  case  new  elections  shall  be  held 
within  two  months,  and  the  new  Assembly  shall  meet  the  follow- 
ing year.  No  decree  of  the  Althing  has  the  force  of  law  with- 
out the  King's  consent,  and  if  he  fail  to  sign  a  bill  before  the 
next  session  of  the  boyd,  the  bill  is  null  and  void.  The  minor 
provisions  of  this  first  chapter  harmonize  with  these  leading 
features. 

Chapter  II.  relates  to  the  Constitution  of  the  Althing.  It  shall 
consist  of  thirty  deputies  elected  by  the  people,  and  six  chosen 
by  the  King.  The  former  hold  office  during  six  years,  the  latter 
retaining  their  places  in  case  an  Assembly  should  be  dissolved. 
The  Althing  is  divided  into  an  upper  and  a  lower  house,  the 
former  composed  of  the  six  deputies  appointed  by  the  King,  and 
six  more  chosen  by  the  thirty  elected  members  from  out  their 
own  number.  The  lower  house  is  thus  formed  by  the  remaining 
twenty-four  members  of  the  latter  class.  The  other  clauses  of 
this  chapter  relate  to  the  filling  of  vacancies  and  the  civil  condi- 
tions which  make  a  citizen  of  Iceland  eligible  to  election  as  a 
member  of  the  Althing. 

Chapter  III.  defines  the  legislative  functions  of  the  two  houses 
and  their  cooperative  action.  The  regular  Althing  shall  meet  on 
the  first  work-day  in  July  (unless  the  King  orders  otherwise), 
in  Rejkiavik.  Each  house  has  the  right  to  introduce  and  pass 
bills ;  also  to  appoint  committees  for  the  investigation  of  matters 
of  special  interest,  such  committees  having  power  to  send  for 
persons  and  papers.  No  tax  may  be  imposed,  altered  or  removed, 
except  by  course  of  law.  The  Althing  has  entire  control  of  the 
finances  of  the  Island,  which  it  must  regulate  by  a  biennial  budg- 


Constitutional  Government  397 


et,  with  the  condition  that  the  salaries  of  the  Danish  function- 
aries (including  the  six  members  appointed  by  the  King)  take 
precedence  of  all  other  expenditure.  The  regulations  in  regard 
to  the  reading  of  a  bill  three  times,  to  returning  a  bill  from  one 
house  to  another  with  amendments,  to  a  quorum  of  members 
being  present,  etc.,  are  similar  to  the  parliamentary  laws  of  other 
countries,  and  need  not  be  repeated.  Two-thirds  of  the  mem- 
bers of  either  House  constitute  a  quorum,  however,  it  will  always 
be  possible  for  four  of  the  King's  deputies  to  prevent  any  legis- 
lation not  agreeable  to  Denmark,  by  their  simple  absence. 

Chapter  IV.  contains  clauses  regulating  the  judiciary  powers. 

Chapter  V.  provides  for  the  State  Church,  the  "Evangelical 
Lutheran,"  but  guarantees  liberty  of  conscience  to  all  the  inhab- 
itants. 

Chapter  VI.  embraces  provisions  relating  to  the  freedom  of 
the  subject,  the  sanctity  of  home  and  private  property,  the  free- 
dom of  the  press,  freedom  of  association  and  assembly,  rights 
of  municipal  government,  taxation,  and  privileges  of  the  nobility, 
which  last,  together  with  their  titles,  are  henceforth  abolished. 

Chapter  VII.  and  last  provides  that  propositions  with  a  view 
to  amending  or  adding  to  the  present  Constitution  may  be  intro- 
duced either  at  a  regular  or  an  extraordinary  session  of  the  Al- 
thing. If  such  a  proposition  receive  the  necessary  majority  in 
both  houses,  the  Althing  shall  be  dissolved  forthwith  and  a  new 
election  ordered.  If  the  newly  elected  Althing  then  accepts  the 
same  proposition  without  amendment,  and  the  latter  then  receives 
the  Royal  sanction,  it  comes  into  force  as  part  and  parcel  of  the 
constitutional  law."     "Egypt  and  Iceland  in  the  Year  1874,"  by 


Bayard  Taylor. 


BELGIUM. 


The  Constitution  of  Belgium  provides  for  a  constitutional 
hereditary  monarchy.  Leopold  of  Saxe-Coburg  took  the  oath 
to  maintain  the  articles  set  forth  in  this  instrument,  which  was 
modeled  after  the  liberal  French  Constitutions  of  1791-1830.  It 
was  adopted  October  4th,  1830,  after  the  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence of  Belgium,  formerly  under  King  William  sovereign 
of  the  Netherlands.  This  was  formed  by  a  National  Congress 
composed  of  two  hundred  delegates.  It  was  promulgated  Febru- 
ary 7th,  183 1,  and  July  31,  Leopold  I.  was  elected  King. 

King  Leopold  died  Dec.  17th,  1809,  and  was  succeeded  by 
his  nephew  Albert  I. 

Germany  has  occupied  all  but  a  portion  of  Belgium  from  Aug., 
1 9 14,  after  invading  the  territory  of  a  neutral  country  not  at 


398  Constitutional  Government 


was  with  Germany  in  violation  of  treaty  agreements  thoroughly 
understood  with  other  nations. 

This  subject  involves  many  questions  in  regard  to  the  great 
war  problem  of  the  central  powers,  and  France,  England,  Russia 
and  Belgium,  and  it  is  too  complicated  and  unsettled  to  be  satis- 
factorily handled  in  this  work. 

It  is  sufficient  to  insert  a  few  letters  from  Belgium's  "Gray 
Papers"  and  England's  " White  Paper"  written  at  the  commence- 
ment of  hostilities.  It  is  hoped  that  Belgium  will  have  her 
country  restored  to  her  and  that  she  will  get  full  indemnity. 

Inclosure  in  No.  12. 

LETTER  ADDRESSED  BY  THE  BELGIAN  MINISTER  IN  BERLIN  TO  M. 
DAVIGNON,  MINISTER  FOR  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS. 

Berlin,  2d  May,  1913. 
M.  le  Ministre: 

I  have  the  honor  of  informing  you,  according  to  the  semi- 
official "Norddeutsche  Allgemeine  Zeitung,"  of  the  declarations 
made  in  the  course  of  the  sitting  of  29th  April  of  the  Budget 
Committee  of  the  Reichstag  by  the  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign 
Affairs  and  the  Minister  of  War  with  reference  to  Belgian  neu- 
trality. 

"A  member  of  the  Social  Democratic  Party  said :  'In  Belgium 
the  approach  of  a  Franco-German  war  is  viewed  with  appre- 
hension, because  it  is  feared  that  Germany  will  not  respect  Bel- 
gian neutrality.' 

"Herr  von  Jagow,  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs,  re- 
plied :  'The  neutrality  of  Belgium  is  determined  by  international 
conventions,  and  Germany  is  resolved  to  respect  these  conven- 
tions.' 

"This  declaration  did  not  satisfy  another  member  of  the  Social 
Democratic  Party.  Herr  von  Jagow  observed  that  he  had  noth- 
ing to  add  to  the  clear  statement  which  he  had  uttered  with  ref- 
erence to  the  relations  between  Germany  and  Belgium. 

"In  reply  to  further  interrogations  from  a  member  of  the 
Social  Democratic  Party,  Herr  von  Heeringen,  Minister  of  War, 
stated:  'Belgium  does  not  play  any  part  in  the  justification  of 
the  German  scheme  of  military  reorganization;  the  scheme  is 
justified  by  the  position  of  matters  in  the  East.  Germany  will 
not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  Belgian  neutrality  is  guaranteed 
by  international  treaties.' 

"A  member  of  the  same  party  having  again  referred  to  Bel- 
gium, Herr  von  Jagow  again  pointed  out  that  his  declaration 
regarding  Belgium  was  sufficiently  clear."    I  am,  &c, 

(Signed)     baron  beyens. 


Constitutional  Government  399 


No.  13. 

TELEGRAM  ADDRESSED  BY  COUNT  DE  LALAING,  BELGIAN  MINISTER  IN 
LONDON,  TO  M.  DAVIGNON,  MINISTER  FOR  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS. 

London,  1st  August,  1914. 
England  has  separately  inquired  of  France  and  Germany  as 
to  whether  they  would  respect  Belgian  territory  in  the  event  of 
their  adversary  not  violating  it.     The  German  reply  is  awaited. 
France  has  accepted. 

No.  14. 

TELEGRAM  ADDRESSED  BY  BARON  BEYENS,  BELGIAN  MINISTER  IN 
BERLIN,  TO  M.  DAVIGNON,  MINISTER  FOR  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS. 

Berlin,  1st  August,  1914. 
The  British  Ambassador  has  been  instructed  to  ask  the  Minis- 
ter for  Foreign  Affairs  whether  in  the  event  of  war  Germany 
would   respect   Belgian  neutrality  and  the   Minister  appears   to 
have  said  that  he  cannot  reply  to  this  question. 


No.  18. 

TELEGRAM  ADDRESSED  BY  M.  EYSCHEN,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  LUXEM- 
BURG GOVERNMENT,  TO  M.  DAVIGNON,  MINISTER  FOR  FOREIGN 
AFFAIRS. 

Luxemburg,  2d  August,  19 14. 

I  have  the  honor  to  bring  the  following  facts  to  the  knowledge 
of  your  Excellency:  Sunday,  26.  August,  very  early,  according 
to  information  which  reached  the  Grand  Ducal  Government  at 
this  moment,  German  troops  have  entered  Luxemburg  territory 
by  the  Wasserbillig  and  Remich  bridges,  proceeding  more  espe- 
cially toward  the  south  of  the  country  and  toward  the  town  of 
Luxemburg,  capital  of  the  Grand  Duchy.  A  certain  number 
of  armored  trains  with  troops  and  ammunition  have  been  for- 
warded by  the  railway  from  Wasserbillig  to  Luxemburg,  where 
they  are  expected  to  arrive  at  any  moment.  These  facts  imply 
acts  which  are  manifestly  contrary  to  the  neutrality  of  the  Grand 
Duchy,  guaranteed  by  the  Treaty  of  London  of  1867.  The  Lux- 
emburg Government  has  not  failed  to  protest  energetically  to  the 
representative  of  his  Majesty  the  German  Emperor  in  Luxem- 
burg against  this  aggression.  An  identical  protest  will  be  trans- 
mitted to  the  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs  in  Berlin. 

(Signed)     EyschEn, 

The  Minister  of  State,  President  of  the  Government. 


400  Constitutional  Government 


No.  22. 

NOTE  HANDED  IN  BY  M.  DAVIGNON,  MINISTER  FOR  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS, 
TO   HERR  VON  BELOW   SALESKE,  GERMAN   MINISTER. 

Brussels,  3d  August,  1914. 
(7  o'clock  in  the  morning.) 

By  the  note  of  the  2d  August,  1914,  the  German  Government 
has  made  known  that  according  to  certain  intelligence  the  French 
forces  intend  to  march  on  the  Meuse  via  Givet  and  Namur  and 
that  Belgium,  in  spite  of  her  good  will,  would  not  be  able  with- 
out help  to  beat  off  an  advance  of  the  French  troops. 

The  German  Government  felt  it  to  be  its  duty  to  forestall  this 
attack  and  to  violate  Belgian  territory.  Under  these  conditions 
Germany  proposes  to  the  King's  Government  to  take  up  a  friend- 
ly attitude,  and  undertakes  at  the  moment  of  peace  to  guarantee 
the  integrity  of  the  Kingdom  and  of  her  possessions  in  their 
whole  extent.  The  note  adds  that  if  Belgium  raises  difficulties 
to  the  forward  march  of  the  German  troops  Germany  will  be 
compelled  to  consider  her  as  an  enemy  and  to  leave  the  later 
settlement  of  the  two  States  toward  one  another  to  the  decision 
of  arms. 

This  note  caused  profound  and  painful  surprise  to  the  King's 
Government. 

The  intentions  which  it  attributed  to  France  are  in  contradic- 
tion with  the  express  declarations  which  were  made  to  us  on  the 
1st  August,  in  the  name  of  the  Government  of  the  Republic. 

Moreover,  if,  contrary  to  our  expectations  a  violation  of  Bel- 
gian neutrality  were  to  be  committed  by  France,  Belgium  would 
fulfill  all  her  international  duties,  and  her  army  would  offer  the 
most  vigorous  opposition  to  the  invader. 

The  treaties  of  1839,  confirmed  by  the  treaties  of  1870,  estab- 
lish the  independence  and  the  neutrality  of  Belgium  under  the 
guarantee  of  the  Powers,  and  particularly  of  the  Government 
of  his  Majesty  the  King  of  Prussia. 

Belgium  has  always  been  faithful  to  her  international  obliga- 
tions ;  she  has  fulfilled  her  duties  in  a  spirit  of  loyal  impartiality ; 
she  has  neglected  no  effort  to  maintain  her  neutrality  or  to  make 
it  respected. 

The  attempt  against  her  independence  with  which  the  German 
Government  threatens  her  would  constitute  a  flagrant  violation 
of  international  law.  No  strategic  interest  justifies  the  violation 
of  that  law. 

The  Belgian  Government  would,  by  accepting  the  propositions 
which  are  notified  to  her,  sacrifice  the  honor  of  the  nation  while 
at  the  same  time  betraying  her  duties  toward  Europe. 


Constitutional  Government  401 


Conscious  of  the  part  Belgium  has  played  for  more  than  eighty- 
years  in  the  civilization  of  the  world,  she  refuses  to  believe  that 
the  independence  of  Belgium  can  be  preserved  only  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  violation  of  her  neutrality. 

If  this  hope  were  disappointed  the  Belgian  Government  has 
firmly  resolved  to  repulse  by  every  means  in  her  power  any  attack 
upon  her  rights. 

No.  23. 

TELEGRAM  ADDRESSED  BY  M.  DAVIGNON,  MINISTER  FOR  FOREIGN 
AFFAIRS,  TO  THE  BELGIAN  MINISTERS  AT  ST.  PETERSBURG,  BER- 
LIN, LONDON,  PARIS,  VIENNA,  THE  HAGUE. 

Brussels,  3d  August,  1914. 
Last  night  at  7  o'clock  Germany  delivered  a  note  proposing 
friendly  neutrality  permitting  of  free  passage  through  our  territory, 
promising  the  maintenance  of  the  independence  of  the  kingdom 
and  of  her  possessions  at  the  conclusion  of  peace,  threatening  in 
case  of  refusal  to  treat  Belgium  as  an  enemy,  time  limit  within 
which  to  reply  fixed  at  twelve  hours.  We  have  replied  that  the 
attack  on  our  neutrality  would  be  a  flagrant  violation  of  interna- 
tional law.  The  acceptance  of  the  German  proposal  would  sacri- 
fice the  honor  of  the  nation.  Conscious  of  her  duty,  Belgium 
is  firmly  resolved  to  repulse  aggression  by  every  means. 

(Signed)     davignon. 

No.  154. 

SIR  F.  VILLIERS  TO  SIR  EDWARD  GREY. 

(Received  Aug.  4.) 
(Telegraphic.) 

Brussels,  Aug.  4,  1914. 
German  Minister  has  this  morning  addressed  note  to  Minister 
for  Foreign  Affairs  stating  that  as  Belgian  Government  have 
declined  the  well-intentioned  proposals  submitted  to  them  by  the 
Imperial  Government,  the  latter  will,  deeply  to  their  regret,  be 
compelled  to  carry  out,  if  necessary  by  force  of  arms,  the  meas- 
ures considered  indispensable  in  view  of  the  French  menaces. 

No.  155. 

SIR  EDWARD  GREY  TO  SIR  F.  VILLIERS. 

(Telegraphic.) 

London,  Foreign  Office,  Aug.  4,  1914. 
You  should  inform  Belgian  Government  that  if  pressure  is 
applied  to  them  by  Germany  to  induce  them  to  depart   from 


402  Constitutional  Government 


neutrality,  His  Majesty's  Government  expect  that  they  will  re- 
sist by  any  means  in  their  power,  and  that  His  Majesty's  Govern- 
ment will  support  them  in  offering  such  resistance,  and  that  His 
Majesty's  Government  in  this  event  are  prepared  to  join  Russia 
and  France,  if  desired,  in  offering  to  the  Belgian  Government 
at  once  common  action  for  the  purpose  of  resisting  use  of  force 
by  Germany  against  them,  and  a  guarantee  to  maintain  their  in- 
dependence and  integrity  in  future  years. 

No.  156. 

SIR  EDWARD   GREY   TO   SIR  E.   GOSCHEN. 

(Telegraphic.) 

London,  Foreign  Office,  Aug.  4,  19 14. 
I  continue  to  receive  numerous  complaints  from  British  firms 
as  to  the  detention  of  their  ships  at  Hamburg,  Cuxhaven,  and 
other  German  ports.  This  action  on  the  part  of  the  German 
authorities  is  totally  unjustifiable.  It  is  in  direct  contravention 
of  international  law  and  of  the  assurances  given  to  your  Excel- 
lency by  the  Imperial  Chancellor.  You  should  demand  the  imme- 
diate release  of  all  British  ships  if  such  release  has  not  yet  been 
given. 

No.  157. 

GERMAN  FOREIGN  SECRETARY  TO  PRINCE  UCHNOWSKY. 

(Communicated  by  German  Embassy,  August  4.) 

(Telegraphic.) 

Berlin,  August  4,  19 14. 
Please  dispel  any  mistrust  that  may  subsist  on  the  part  of  the 
British  Government  with  regard  to  our  intentions  by  repeating 
most  positively  formal  assurance  that,  even  in  the  case  of  armed 
conflict  with  Belgium,  Germany  will,  under  no  pretense  what- 
ever, annex  Belgian  territory.  Sincerity  of  this  declaration  is 
borne  out  by  fact  that  we  solemnly  pledged  our  word  to  Holland 
strictly  to  respect  her  neutrality.  It  is  obvious  that  we  could  not 
profitably  annex  Belgian  territory  without  making  at  the  same 
time  territorial  acquisitions  at  expense  of  Holland.  Please  im- 
press upon  Sir  E.  Grey  that  German  army  could  not  be  exposed 
to  French  attack  across  Belgium,  which  was  planned  according 
to  absolutely  unimpeachable  information.  Germany  had  conse- 
quently to  disregard  Belgian  neutrality,  it  being  for  her  a  ques- 
tion of  life  or  death  to  prevent  French  advance. 


Constitutional  Government  403 

No.  158. 

SIR  P.  VILUERS  TO  SIR  EDWARD  GREY. 

(Received  August  4.) 
(Telegraphic.) 

Brussels,  Aug.  4,  1914. 
Military  Attache  has  been  informed  at  War  Office  that  Ger- 
man troops  have  entered  Belgian  territory,  and  that  Liege  has 
been  summoned  to  surrender  by  small  party  of  Germans,  who, 
however,  were  repulsed. 

No.  159. 

SIR  EDWARD   GREY  TO   SIR  E.   GOSCHEN. 

(Telegraphic.) 

London,  Foreign  Office,  Aug.  4,  1914. 

We  hear  that  Germany  has  addressed  note  to  Belgian  Minister 
for  Foreign  Affairs  stating  that  German  Government  will  be 
compelled  to  carry  out,  if  necessary  by  force  of  arms,  the  meas- 
ures considered  indispensable. 

We  are  also  informed  that  Belgian  territory  has  been  violated 
at  Gemmenich. 

In  these  circumstances,  and  in  view  of  the  fact  that  Germany 
declined  to  give  the  same  assurance  respecting  Belgium  as  France 
gave  last  week  in  reply  to  our  request  made  simultaneously  at 
Berlin  and  Paris,  we  must  repeat  that  request,  and  ask  that  a 
satisfactory  reply  to  it  and  to  my  telegram  of  this  morning*  be 
received  here  by  12  o'clock  tonight.  If  not,  you  are  instructed 
to  ask  for  your  passports,  and  to  say  that  his  Majesty's  Govern- 
ment feel  bound  to  take  all  steps  in  their  power  to  uphold  the 
neutrality  of  Belgium  and  the  observance  of  a  treaty  to  which 
Germany  is  as  much  a  party  as  ourselves. 

*See  No.  153. 

SECOND   BRITISH    "WHITE   PAPER."" 

Dispatch  from  His  Majesty's  Ambassador  at  Berlin  Respecting 
the  Rupture  of  Diplomatic  Relations  With  the  German 

Government. 

SIR  E.  GOSCHEN  TO  SIR  EDWARD  GREY. 

I  then  said  that  I  should  like  to  go  and  see  the  Chancellor,  as 
it  might  be,  perhaps,  the  last  time  I  should  have  an  opportunity  of 
seeing  him.  He  begged  me  to  do  so.  I  found  the  Chancellor 
very  agitated.  His  Excellency  at  once  began  a  harangue,  which 
lasted  for  about  20  minutes.    He  said  that  the  step  taken  by  His 


404  Constitutional  Government 


Majesty's  Government  was  terrible  to  a  degree;  just  for  a  word 
— "neutrality,"  a  word  which  in  war  time  had  so  often  been  disre- 
garded— just  for  a  scrap  of  paper  Great  Britain  was  going  to 
make  war  on  a  kindred  nation  who  desired  nothing  better  than 
to  be  friends  with  her.  All  his  efforts  in  that  direction  had  been 
rendered  useless  by  this  last  terrible  step,  and  the  policy  to  which, 
as  1  knew,  he  had  devoted  himself  since  his  accession  to  office 
had  tumbled  down  like  a  house  of  cards.  What  we  had  done 
was  unthinkable;  it  was  like  striking  a  man  from  behind  while 
he  was  fighting  for  his  life  against  two  assailants.  He  held 
Great  Britain  responsible  for  all  the  terrible  events  that  might 
happen.  I  protested  strongly  against  that  statement,  and  said 
that,  in  the  same  way  as  he  and  Herr  von  Jagow  wished  me  to 
understand  that  for  strategical  reasons  it  was  a  matter  of  life 
and  death  to  Germany  to  advance  through  Belgium  and  violate 
the  latter's  neutrality,  so  I  would  wish  him  to  understand  that 
it  was,  so  to  speak,  a  matter  of  "life  and  death"  for  the  honour 
of  Great  Britain  that  she  should  keep  her  solemn  engagement 
to  do  her  utmost  to  defend  Belgium's  neutrality  if  attacked. 
That  solemn  compact  simply  had  to  be  kept,  or  what  confidence 
could  any  one  have  in  engagements  given  by  Great  Britain  in 
the  future?  The  Chancellor  said,  "But  at  what  price  will  that 
compact  have  been  kept.  Has  the  British  Government  thought 
of  that?"  I  hinted  to  his  Excellency  as  plainly  as  I  could  that 
fear  of  consequences  could  hardly  be  regarded  as  an  excuse  for 
breaking  solemn  engagements,  but  his  Excellency  was  so  excited, 
so  evidently  overcome  by  the  news  of  our  action,  and  so  little 
disposed  to  hear  reason,  that  I  refrained  from  adding  fuel  to  the 
flame  by  further  argument.  As  I  was  leaving  he  said  that  the 
blow  of  Great  Britain  joining  Germany's  enemies  was  all  the 
greater  that  almost  up  to  the  last  moment  he  and  his  Government 
had  been  working  with  us  and  supporting  our  efforts  to  maintain 
peace  between  Austria  and  Russia.  I  said  that  this  was  part 
of  the  tragedy  which  saw  the  two  nations  fall  apart  just  at  the 
moment  when  the  relations  between  them  had  been  more  friendly 
and  cordial  than  they  had  been  for  years.  Unfortunately,  not- 
withstanding our  efforts  to  maintain  peace  between  Russia  and 
Austria,  the  war  had  spread  and  had  brought  us  face  to  face 
with  a  situation  which,  if  we  held  to  our  engagements,  we  could 
not  possibly  avoid,  and  which  unfortunately  entailed  our  separa- 
tion from  our  late  fellow  workers.  He  would  readily  under- 
stand that  no  one  regretted  this  more  than  I. 


Constitutional  Government  405 

EXCERPTS  FROM  CONSTITUTION  OF  BELGIUM. 
TITLE   II.      BELGIAN   CITIZENS  AND   THEIR  RIGHTS. 

Art.  4.  Belgian  nationality  is  acquired,  retained,  and  lost  ac- 
cording to  regulations  established  by  the  civil  law. 

The  present  constitution  and  the  other  laws  relating  to  political 
rights  determine  what  other  conditions  are  necessary  for  the 
exercise  of  these  rights. 

Art.  6.  There  shall  be  no  distinction  of  classes  in  the  state. 
All  Belgians  are  equal  before  the  law ;  they  alone  are  admissible 
to  civil  and  military  offices,  with  such  exceptions  as  may  be  estab- 
lished by  law  for  particular  cases. 

Art.  7.     Individual  liberty  is  guaranteed. 

No  one  may  be  prosecuted  except  in  such  cases  provided  for 
by  law  and  in  the  form  prescribed. 

Except  when  one  is  taken  in  the  commission  of  an  offense 
no  one  may  be  arrested  without  a  warrant  issued  by  a  magistrate, 
which  ought  to  be  shown  at  the  time  of  arrest,  or  at  the  latest 
within  twenty-four  hours  thereafter. 

TITLE   III.      CONCERNING   POWERS. 

Art.  25.     All  powers  emanate  from  the  people. 

They  shall  be  exercised  in  the  manner  established  by  the  con- 
stitution. 

Art.  26.  The  legislative  power  shall  be  exercised  collectively 
by  the  King,  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  the  Senate. 

CHAPTER  I.      THE   HOUSES. 

Art.  32.  The  members  of  the  two  Houses  shall  represent  the 
nation,  and  not  the  province  alone,  nor  the  subdivision  which 
elected  them. 

SECTION  I.      THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 

Art.  47.  The  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  shall 
be  chosen  by  direct  election  under  the  following  regulations : 

One  vote  is  allotted  to  citizens  who  have  reached  the  age  of 
twenty-five  years,  resident  for  at  least  one  year  in  the  same  com- 
mune and  who  are  not  otherwise  excluded  by  law. 

One  additional  vote  is  allotted  in  consideration  of  any  of  the 
following  conditions : 

( 1 )  Having  reached  the  age  of  thirty-five  years,  being  mar- 
ried or  a  widower  with  legitimate  offspring,  and  paying  to  the 
state  a  tax  of  not  less  than  five  francs  as  a  householder,  unless 
exempt  on  account  of  his  profession. 


406  Constitutional  Government 


SECTION    II.      THE   SENATE. 

Art.  53.     The  Senate  shall  be  composed: 

(1)  Of  members  elected  according  to  the  population  of  each 
province,  conformably  to  Art.  47;  though  the  law  may  require 
that  the  electors  shall  have  reached  the  age  of  thirty  years.  The 
provisions  of  Art.  48  are  applicable  to  the  election  of  senators. 

(2)  Of  members  elected  by  the  provincial  councils,  to  the 
number  of  two  for  each  province  having  less  than  500,000  in- 
habitants, of  three  for  each  province  having  from  500,000  to 
1,000,000  inhabitants,  and  of  four  for  each  province  having  more 
than  1,000,000  inhabitants. 

CHAPTER   II.      THE    KING   AND   THE    MINISTERS. 
SECTION  I.      THE  KING. 

Art.  60.  The  constitutional  powers  of  the  King  are  heredity 
in  the  direct  descendants,  natural  and  legitimate,  of  His  Majes- 
ty Leopold-George-Christian-Frederick  of  Saxe-Coburg,  from 
male  to  male  in  the  order  of  primogeniture,  and  to  the  perpetual 
exclusion  of  females  and  of  their  descendants. 

(The  prince  who  shall  marry  without  the  consent  of  the  King, 
or  of  those  who  in  his  absence  exercise  his  authority  as  provided 
by  the  constitution,  shall  forfeit  his  rights  to  the  crown). 

(Nevertheless,  with  the  consent  of  the  two  Houses,  he  may 
be  relieved  of  this  forfeiture  by  the  King  or  by  those  who,  in  his 
absence  exercise  his  authority  according  to  the  constitution). 

SECTION   II.      THE   MINISTERS. 

Art.  86.  No  person  shall  be  a  minister  unless  he  is  a  Belgian 
by  birth,  or  has  received  full  naturalization. 

Art.  87.     No  person  of  the  royal  family  shall  be  a  minister. 

CHAPTER    HI.      THE    JUDICIAL    POWER. 

Art.  92.  Actions  which  involve  questions  of  civil  right  be- 
long exclusively  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts. 

Art.  93.  Actions  which  involve  questions  of  political  rights 
belong  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts,  except  as  otherwise  de- 
termined by  law. 

TITLE   VI.      GENERAL    PROVISIONS. 

Art.  125.  The  Belgian  nation  adopts  for  its  colors  red,  yellow 
and  black,  and  for  the  coat  of  arms  of  the  kingdom,  the  Belgian 
lion,  with  the  motto,  "Union  Gives  Strength." 

Art.  126.  The  city  of  Brussels  is  the  capital  of  Belgium  and 
the  seat  of  government. 

The  full  text  of  this  constitution  can  be  found  in  "Modern 
Constitutions"  by  Walter  F.  Dodd,  Chicago  University  Press. 


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